'The noise is gone': Family of murdered teen describes 379 days of grief at sentencing hearing

Meghan Grant · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 7:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

It's been 379 days since Ruth Visser held onto her 16-year-old son's bare ft astatine the extremity of his infirmary furniture arsenic doctors and nurses worked frantically to prevention him aft helium was stabbed by a boy he'd ne'er met. 

"That was the past clip I touched my son," she wrote successful a unfortunate interaction statement. "I held his ft arsenic if to say, 'You're going excessively fast, hold for me.'

"And then, clip stopped."

Dean Visser died from his injuries connected June 6, 2024.

A 17-year-old who can't beryllium identified due to the fact that helium was a younker astatine the clip of the stabbing pleaded blameworthy to second-degree execution past month. CBC News is identifying him arsenic SK. 

• Calgary teen admits to murdering 16-year-old implicit Instagram feud and costly hoodie

On Friday, prosecutors Darren Maloney and Robert Marquette and defence lawyer Rebecca Snukal asked Court of King's Bench Justice Lisa Silver to enforce the maximum condemnation for a younker convicted of second-degree murder: four years successful jailhouse followed by 3 years nether assemblage supervision. The condemnation volition beryllium handed down aboriginal this year. 

"Seven years for a life? Seven years for Dean?" Ruth questioned successful her unfortunate interaction statement.

"How bash lawyers and judges equilibrium a mother's breached bosom against a number?"

'Give maine that BAPE'

Details of the sidesplitting were outlined successful an agreed connection of facts arsenic portion of SK's plea successful May.

Justice Lisa Silver heard that successful 2024, Dean and SK "harboured animosity" toward each different due to the fact that of a heated speech of messages connected Instagram. 

On June 24, Dean was walking with his woman successful southeast Calgary erstwhile helium was spotted by SK, who began to travel the couple.

At the time, the unfortunate was carrying a hooded sweatshirt from the marque Bathing Ape, known arsenic a BAPE. Dean's begetter said helium was headed to a friend's location to instrumentality the hoodie. 

With his hood pulled up, SK ran up down the mates and stabbed Dean. He shouted, "Give maine that BAPE."

Dean handed the sweatshirt implicit and SK ran away.

When constabulary arrested SK, helium told them that erstwhile helium spotted Dean connected the street, helium ran up and stabbed him retired of "rage" due to the fact that of their online feud. 

'The sound is gone'

Dean's parent says she inactive sets a spot for him astatine the meal table. The void, she says, has near a soundlessness successful the home. 

"No much of his laugh, a laughter that divided rooms unfastened with airy and settled successful the floorboards similar it belonged there," wrote Ruth. 

"Now that soundlessness settles successful its place. It lingers aft dinner, it follows maine into his country wherever thing dares move."

It's the small things, the idiosyncrasies of teenage boyhood, that deed the grieving parent the hardest, she wrote.

"No much mid-day texts astir a Timmy's bid … nary much precocious nighttime pings asking for a thrust home, nary much wheelies connected his ungraded bike, nary much doughnuts successful the particulate portion we camped, the aerial afloat of grit and joy.

"The sound is gone. Dean's chaos is gone. But the ache... the ache is ever present."

The past gift

Family dynamics, wrote Ruth, are everlastingly changed arsenic well, including her marriage. 

"Grief pushes and pulls us, shaping america differently. Some days we clasp each other. Some days we can't adjacent talk." 

Dean's begetter and sister some wrote unfortunate interaction statements 

Elizabeth Visser was 19 years aged erstwhile her small member was killed. 

"The location smells amended and I hatred it," she said. "It nary longer smells similar teen boys oregon locker rooms. What a dumb happening to miss."

Elizabeth was astir to crook 20 erstwhile Dean was killed. He'd bought her a acquisition that helium ne'er got to springiness her. 

It was a 1,500-piece puzzle. A homage to the hours spent "sitting astatine the java array successful uncomfortable positions, doing jigsaw puzzles together."

'I mislaid a adjacent friend'

In his statement, Kevin Visser told the justice that his lad was the benignant of idiosyncratic who "looked retired for people."

"He came location 1 time and made a repast for a stateless idiosyncratic helium met connected his travels astir the neighbourhood," wrote Kevin. 

The narration betwixt Dean and Kevin was developing beyond father/son, into a friendship.

"I mislaid much than a son, I mislaid a adjacent friend."