Gabriel Klein charged in 2016 with killing one student and seriously injuring another

Gabriel Klein, charged with the 2016 stabbing death of Letisha Reimer and the aggravated assault of her friend, is slated to go to trial in May 2018.

The trial date has been set for the man charged with the fatal stabbing of 13-year-old Letisha Reimer in Abbotsford last year.

Gabriel Brandon Klein, 22, is scheduled to start his trial May 7, 2018 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

However, that is a tentative date that can change as the case proceeds through the courts and potential pre-trial issues arise.

Klein was charged the day after Reimer was the victim of a random knife attack while sitting in the rotunda of Abbotsford Senior Secondary with a 14-year-old friend on Nov. 1, 2016.

Both girls were airlifted to hospital, where Reimer died shortly afterwards. Her friend – who cannot be named due to a publication ban – was seriously injured but recovered.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced the charges at a press conference on Nov. 2, where they described Klein as a transient who had been staying at the local Riverside Shelter in the days leading up to the incident.

They said that Klein had been arrested on the scene and they did not know a motive for the attack.

Klein has since made several appearances in court, and initially refused to leave his jail cell, speak with lawyers or say anything in the courtroom.

On a couple of occasions, he had to be wheeled into the courtroom or video room in a wheelchair after refusing to leave his cell.

He now has a lawyer in place and had made several appearances in court.

Klein is next scheduled to appear in New Westminster court on Nov. 3 for a pre-trial conference.