Kelly Ellard and a 4th trial: When is enough enough?

Eleven years ago, 14 year old Reena Virk was swarmed and beaten by a group of teenagers, mostly girls, who she thought were her friends. She escaped the swarm but was grabbed again by two of the group, beaten again, and left to die in a waterway.

One of those teenagers was Kelly Ellard. She's been convicted twice of killing Virk, with a third trial resulting in a hung jury. The news came yesterday that her last conviction has been overturned due to some legal wrangling. She's to face a fourth trial.

This post isn't going to be about the justice system, which Reena Virk's parents have said isn't a justice system at all but rather simply a legal system. Rather, this post is about responsibility. Honesty and truthfulness and owning up to your actions and accepting things you have done, things that hurt other people, things that have consequences. Things that lead to guilt and remorse and perhaps even enlightenment.

It's been 11 years since that night on the bridge. Ellard herself was only 15 at the time of the killing, a time when all teenagers evade responsibility for their actions. At 15, the narcissism of childhood is running into the consequences of adulthood. and most 15 year olds are still trying to balance that knife's edge. If you do something you're not supposed to do, don't get caught. If you do get caught, deny, deny, deny. The practice of owning up to your actions is still not ingrained in your psyche.

And yet - several of the kids did own up to their actions. Three of the group pleaded guilty almost immediately to assault. Three others were subsequently tried and convicted of more serious assault charges. The lone male in the group, Warren Glowatski, was convicted of murder in 1999 and by now is probably eligible for parole. Glowatski was one of the final two to pursue Virk and leave her in the river.

The other one was Kelly Ellard.

She admits being involved in the beatings, she admits being there when Virk went in to the river. But she refuses to admit that she is guilty of murder, that she is responsible for Ellard's death. It's a tremendous split hair. Who held her head underwater at the end is, by this point, irrelevant. Ellard and Glowatski put her in the water. And Reena Virk is dead as a result.

She's hiding behind lawyers, she's pointing fingers, she's blaming everyone else, but she isn't taking her share of the blame. Her lawyers at this point are simply enablers: By picking apart every aspect of the case, every statement made, they're allowing her to continue to believe her delusion that she isn't responsible. That she can somehow "get off" on having to be burdened with the guilt of this crime.

The irony is, if Ellard had simply taken responsibility when the crimes happened, she'd be out of jail by now. She'd be able to go on with her life. But she keeps fighting, keeps wanting to shed the mantle of guilt, keeps wanting to not have to take the blame.

And enough is enough. It's been 11 years. Let the memory of this girl rest in peace. Ellard needs to accept that her actions led to the death of a 14 year old girl. It's time to take responsibility. Stop putting Virk's family, and your own, through all of this. She has no idea of the peace she'll find by simply facing the music.