P.E.I. teen accused in Tyson MacDonald murder elects for trial by Supreme Court judge

The teenager accused of killing 17-year-old Tyson MacDonald in eastern P.E.I. in December has elected to have his case heard in P.E.I. Supreme Court, and to be tried by a judge alone rather than judge and jury if the case goes to trial.

The youth, charged with first-degree murder and interfering with human remains, appeared in court in Georgetown Thursday via video link from youth jail, where he has been held since his arrest in December.

He has not yet entered a plea. That is expected to happen on July 4 in Charlottetown.

MacDonald, a student at Montague Regional High School, disappeared in eastern P.E.I. on Dec. 14. He had told his family he was going to a hockey game in Charlottetown with some friends.

As the RCMP investigation went on, it shifted from a missing person case to a homicide. MacDonald's body was found after a six-day search, and two teenagers were arrested the same day.

The names of the two are subject to a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

This file photo from April shows people carrying signs calling for justice for Tyson MacDonald walking outside the courthouse in Georgetown, P.E.I. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

One of the two accused pleaded guilty in April to public mischief through misleading police and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to a further two months in jail, in addition to the four months he had served since his arrest, and to 30 days of community supervision.

Charges that had been laid against him of first-degree murder and interfering with human remains were stayed.

The mischief and obstruction charges stem from the teenager backing up a story the other accused had told police about MacDonald's disappearance. In that version of events, the three of them were in Caledonia before MacDonald got into a Honda Civic driven by a young woman with a flower tattoo on her left arm.

But that woman did not exist. The story was a fabrication, according to an agreed statement of facts presented in court in April.

On Thursday, as with previous court dates, supporters of the MacDonald family gathered outside the courtroom, some holding signs calling for justice for Tyson. Inside, dozens of family and friends packed the courtroom.