Friends and family of Stefanie Rengel, the 14-year-old Toronto girl who was fatally stabbed on New Year's Day, held a candlelight vigil in her memory late Friday.
The vigil began at 7 p.m. at the Presteign-Woodbine Heights United Church at 2538 St. Clair Ave. E. in Toronto. and was followed by a silent walk through the teenager's neighbourhood.
CTV's Austin Delaney reported that a steady stream of people were gathering for the vigil, many of them young families.
Police released the name and a photo of the victim late Thursday afternoon after obtaining the consent of her parents, as required by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Rengel's mother, a police sergeant, and her stepfather, an Emergency Task Force officer, declined to comment to the media before the vigil.
Rengel's father and stepmother also work for the Toronto Police Service, as court officers.
The 14-year-old victim was reportedly stabbed several times in the abdomen on a sidewalk near her East York home at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday and later died in hospital.
Friends of Rengel say she was the victim of a love triangle involving an ex-boyfriend.
On Wednesday, police charged a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy with first-degree murder. They cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The accused appeared briefly in court on Thursday. They have been remanded in custody until Jan. 16, when they will appear in court via video.
After Thursday's court appearance, Marshall Sack, the lawyer representing the 15-year-old girl, said the synopsis he received from the Crown makes no reference to his client's involvement in the actual crime.
"My client is alleged to have indicated at some point in time that she wanted the deceased not to be alive," Sack told reporters outside court.
"Beyond that I see nothing and that's not first-degree murder. All of us in our daily lives express feelings but very few of us know something is going to happen."
Sack said his client was not present when the deadly attack happened near Rengel's East York Home on Tuesday night.
Both the Crown and the boy's lawyer declined comment on Thursday.
Criminal lawyer Owen Wigderson explained to CTV's Canada AM on Friday what evidence is necessary for a first-degree murder charge to be laid.
"It means that there's planning and deliberation or it means that there was an intention to kill combined with another offence such as kidnapping or forcible confinement," said Wigderson.
Meanwhile, one of Rengel's classmates told CTV Toronto that he heard the accused boy say he would stab the victim. The suspect allegedly shouted the remark during a cellphone conversation in the hallway of their school.
A visitation for Rengel has been scheduled for Saturday, while a funeral is set for Sunday afternoon.
A makeshift memorial of flowers has also been growing down the street from where Rengel lived.
With reports from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney and Jim Junkin
