Tyson MacDonald accused to stay in custody until next court date in September

A crowd of people gathered at the P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown on Thursday, hoping to hear an accused teen enter a plea in the death of 17-year-old Tyson MacDonald, but the case was quickly adjourned until September.

There were audible huffs and disappointed faces in the packed courtroom as the delay until Sept. 10 was announced.

This was the first appearance for the case at the Supreme Court level, with legal proceedings having taken place in provincial court in Georgetown until now.

Despite the warm weather, some of those present were wearing the blue memorial hoodies that have appeared at previous court dates, and signs displayed outside the courthouse carried messages like "Justice for Tyson" and "No Justice, No Peace."

The accused teen, who cannot be named because of provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was not present for Thursday's development. He will stay in custody on remand at least until September.

Justice Jonathan Coady granted a joint Crown and defence request to have the case adjourned to allow for further discussions. A pre-trial conference has been set for July 22 to allow some of those talks to happen.

The teen faces charges of first-degree murder and interfering with human remains in MacDonald's death.

The Montague teen vanished on Dec. 14, 2023, after planning to go to a hockey game in Charlottetown with some friends.

His body was found after a six-day search, and two teenagers were arrested the same day.

The other teen pleaded guilty in April to public mischief through misleading police and obstruction of justice.