Family of Hannah Leflar calls teen’s involvement ‘worst’ betrayal

“You set her up to be alone, you ushered her to her death,” Janet Leflar angrily said as she looked at the teen who played a role in her daughter’s death.

For the second time, Leflar laid bare the all-consuming grief she continues to feel at the loss of her only child, Hannah.

“The most dangerous monster is the one that comes disguised as a friend,” Leflar said as she detailed the many times he had visited her home, played video games with Hannah and even eaten supper at their table.

Leflar’s was one of 13 victim impact statements were read in court as the adult sentencing hearing continued Monday.

Hannah’s stepfather Wade Anderson described coming home that fateful afternoon in January 2015 “finding her lying face down, in a pool of her own blood.”

He went on to describe how his grief at her final moments are “ever-present and unbearable” as he remembers trying to resuscitate her.

“It must have been terrifying for her,” Anderson said. “The pain, the confusion, the terror, the shock at being stabbed, gasping for air, she was alone and scared.”

The sense that this was an act of betrayal by a trusted friend littered many of the statements that were read.

Heather Josephson, a cousin of Hannah’s father Jeff Leflar, looked at the teen directly and wondered aloud, “Why you never told anyone? Why didn’t you call 911? It boggles one’s mind.”

It was then that teen showed emotion for what appeared to be the first time in his sentencing hearing.

Taking off his glasses, he bent over and let out a sob, before sitting back up and wiping his red eyes.

“You betrayed Hannah in the worst way possible,” Josephson continued, keeping her eyes on the teen.

“You did nothing as her blood flowed and her life faded,” she said through defiant tears. “What you have done is unforgivable.”

The Crown wants the teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, sentenced as an adult for his part of that crime. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2017.

It is the second time Crown lawyer Chris White has heard the Leflar family speak, but this time he thought it conveyed a different message.

“This isn’t the jilted boyfriend. This is the trusted friend who had spent time in their house and someone who it seemed they all trusted and didn’t see as a threat,” White told reporters outside court. “Struggling to deal with that I think shines through in their victim impact statements.”

It was Hannah’s stepmother, Lore Oransan, supported by her tearful husband, who detailed what it has meant to lose the 16-year-old.

“She is our first thought and our last thought, it isn’t just the loss of Hannah but the future generations,” Oransan said, clutching a tissue. “We will never see her graduate, walk her down the aisle or experience the joy of grandchildren.”

Oranson admitted it was difficult to breathe same air as the teen and look at him.

But she ended by telling the teen, “We will not forget Hannah, the tracks she left in our family are too deep.”

The adult sentencing hearing continues Tuesday with the teen expected to take the stand.