Family ‘learned to hate’ after Babcock was killed, sentencing hearing told
Posted Feb 12, 2018 04:00:04 AM.
Last Updated Feb 12, 2018 01:13:30 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The family of a Toronto woman killed by two men more than five years ago says they learned how to hate after what happened to Laura Babcock.
Linda and Brent Babcock, the mother and brother of the young woman, expressed their hatred and heartbreak in a victim impact statement read out by a prosecutor at a sentencing hearing for Dellen Millard and Mark Smich.
In December, a jury found the two men guilty of first-degree murder in Laura Babcock’s death.
The pair were previously found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2013 death of Hamilton man Tim Bosma.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
The judge presiding over the case has to decide, however, if he will impose a consecutive or concurrent parole ineligibility period in connection with Babcock’s murder.
Crown prosecutors have said they want the parole ineligibility period in the Babcock case added to the ineligibility period imposed for Bosma’s murder.
Babcock’s family said the woman’s death has taken a heavy toll.
“We hate you for taking Laura’s life away from her,” they said in their victim impact statement. “She should be laughing, dancing and enjoying life.”
Babcock’s family and friends were joined by Bosma’s family and friends at the hearing taking place in a packed Toronto courtroom.
