A Vancouver man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled April 11.
Kongkea Sor had been charged with second-degree murder in the 2019 multiple stabbing that resulted in the death of Ryan Deans, Justice George Macintosh said. The jury found Sor not guilty of murder but convicted him of the lesser-included offence.
Juries do not give reasons for decisions.
“The tragedy of this case is that death ensued from a struggle lasting a matter of seconds between two men without criminal records who did not know each other,” Macintosh said.
The judge said Sor had been at a treatment facility in 2019 to deal with a substance use disorder. On Nov. 4, 2019, he said, Sor had drunk a quantity of vinegar and was vomiting while on a bench in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Macintosh said Deans, then 39, approached and told 35-year-old Sor to clean up his mess or leave.
The judge said Deans was agitated and got some bear spray out of a pack. That led to Sor taking out a jackknife after which Deans used the bear spray.
“Mr. Sor lunged at Mr. Deans,” Macintosh said. “They struggled on the ground.”
However, Sor was in a dominant position and stabbed Deans five times with “rapid pronounced arm movements.”
“He was attempting to defend himself,” Macintosh said. “He used excessive force in doing so.”
Deans managed to get to someone and asked them to call 911. Paramedics arrived and took him to Vancouver General Hospital.
Deans was found to have suffered wounds that penetrated his heart, kidney and spleen.
“Severe blood loss led to complications,” the judge told the court.
Sor was arrested the night of the offence, charged with aggravated assault and released the next day.
Macintosh said after the attack, Sor went to International Village and bought milk to pour on his face in a bathroom. He left the milk container and the knife in the garbage.
Deans died Dec. 14, 2019 after being taken off life support.
Sor was soon arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
The judge said Sor has expressed “sincere remorse.” He said Sor has never known a normal life after being born in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Cambodia border. He came to Canada in 1985.
The sentence will be reduced by 90 days to reflect credit for time already served in custody.
