Perth teen pleads guilty to murdering 15-year-old in woods

A teen girl charged with murdering another teen in the small eastern Ontario town of Perth, Ont., last year has pleaded guilty in court.

The girl, who can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged in the October 2024 death of 15-year-old Reese Stanzel.

She was initially accused of second-degree murder but the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder.

According to an agreed statement of facts read out in Ontario Superior Court of Justice late last month, the girl formed a plan to kill Stanzel and led him to the town's woods on the afternoon of Oct. 25, 2024.

The girl struck Stanzel with a baseball bat, stabbed him with a hunting knife and fled. Stanzel died as a result of his wounds, "his body left alone among the fallen leaves," according to the statement.

"I hit his head. I killed him," the girl wrote in a note later recovered from her home. She had also confessed to the murder upon her arrest by Ontario Provincial Police officers and told them where to find Stanzel's body.

When she was re-arrested under the upgraded first-degree murder charge, "[she] expressed empathy for the victim's family, stating that she felt remorse," court heard.

The Crown intends to seek an adult sentence in the case, which is due back in court for sentencing submissions on Feb. 27.