Sentencing proceedings begin for convicted murderer Justin Bennett

WARNING: This story contains details that are disturbing in nature.

CALGARY – Sentencing begins for Calgary man Justin Bennett Friday.

He is convicted of second-degree murder for beating his then-girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter, Ivy Wick, to death, because she interrupted his videogame.

READ MORE: Calgary man guilty of second-degree murder in toddler’s death

The killing happened in 2017 at a northeast Calgary home, but Bennett was charged a year later in September of 2018 when he confessed his actions to an undercover police officer.

Bennett believed he was joining an organized crime group but was in fact speaking to an undercover investigator, who he admitted the details of the incident to.

Bennett’s legal defence revolved around putting the blame on his girlfriend at the time, his lawyer argued that she was the one responsible for Wick’s bludgeoning.

But according to Bennett’s confession to undercover police, he admitted to ensuring his girlfriend was in the shower before carrying out the murder.

Bennett said he punched the three-year-old Wick in the head, threw her into a wall, and tripped her, causing severe blows to her skull.

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The girl was found injured in a home along Rundlehorn Drive N.E. and later died.

Police said Wick’s mother and her boyfriend were the only ones with direct access to the girl on the day she was taken to the hospital.

Justice Blair Nixon said the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Bennett fatally injured Wick at her home. Nixon also said there was no reasonable explanation for the defence.

Therefore, he says the only possibility is Bennett caused the death and is guilty of culpable homicide.

Second-degree murder carries a sentence of life imprisonment in Canada.

–with files from Tom Ross and Saif Kaisar