Devan Selvey’s killer to be released under father’s supervision

The teen who stabbed and killed Devan Selvey will spend the next three years of his life on house arrest in his father’s home, a judge has ruled.

The offender, who can’t be identified under a court-ordered publication ban, was convicted for the second-degree murder of 14-year-old Selvey outside of Winston Churchill Secondary School in Hamilton in the fall of 2019. His loved ones have said Selvey was bullied in school.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman sentenced the teen in March 2022 to seven years, four of which were to be served in custody.

The judge overseeing the case previously raised concerns over where the convicted killer would spend the final three years of his sentence.

A decision was to be made in December, but Goodman found every option inadequate — saying that none of the four choices presented “were ideal.”

READ MORE: Judge discusses fate of teen who killed Devan Selvey in 2019

One of those choices would have been the teen’s mother, whose continued struggle with alcohol made her unsuitable.

Another option that was brought up was the teen’s brother, but again, Goodman refused as the sibling was the co-accused in this case.

A third proposal would have been a shelter.

The last option was the teen’s father, but that too was also met with some concern from the court.

Their relationship was described as “strained” and “lacking in structure” but had recently been reconciled as a result of several therapy sessions.

The father made mention of his own personal experiences with breaking the cycle of institutionalization and spoke of his own 10 years of sobriety.

Today, he works as an independent truck driver and lives in a county adjacent to Hamilton with his partner and their several children.

Goodman, upon hearing this, ultimately found the father to be a suitable fit for the soon-to be-released 18-year-old.

He laid out several strict terms that would need to be followed moving forward that, if broken, would lead to him serving out the rest of his sentence in custody.

READ MORE: Annual memorial to honour late teen Devan Selvey held in Hamilton

The conditions include a weapons prohibition, a ban on associating with anyone with a criminal record outside of his family and having no contact with the Selvey family.

He will be prohibited from using any drugs, except for those he’s been prescribed, and will not be permitted to consume cannabis or alcohol for the next 12 months.

He will also not be allowed outside of his family’s residence unless he is attending a job, school, supervisor visits or a lawyer, seeking emergency medical care or seeing a therapist.

The mother of Devan says she expected the ruling, but was still hoping for something different.

“I was kind of hoping that he’d be still in for three years because I was hoping they wouldn’t release him back to his family.” said Shari-Ann Selvey.

Outraged by the release, a woman who identified herself as a cousin of Devan yelled through her tears in the court.

“My cousin’s life wasn’t worth four and a half years, you’re releasing him to a criminal family, you think he won’t be back?”

Though Goodman spoke of how he was “impressed” with the father, he said that “this does not take away from the loss and grief felt by the Selvey family” and that it is “a time for change.”

The need for change is something that Devan’s mother agrees on.

“I’m going to continue on to fight the young offenders act and re-write that. We got to protect our children as a society, not just as a school thing, it’s a society thing.”