Kenneth Law sentencing hearing begins in Ontario

Kenneth Law’s sentencing hearing began in Ontario on Wednesday, with relatives of people who died after obtaining products he sold online expected to describe their losses to the court. Law pleaded guilty in May to 14 counts of aiding suicide involving 14 people in Canada. The sentence has not yet been announced. The hearing is being held before Justice Michelle Fuerst, who is considering the appropriate prison term. Prosecutors have said they plan to withdraw 14 first-degree murder charges after sentencing, saying they concluded they lacked evidence to secure murder convictions. The charges to which Law pleaded guilty carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Relatives’ victim-impact statements are part of the hearing. In a statement read in court Wednesday, Maria Lopez, the mother of Jeshennia Bedoya-Lopez, said she could not stop thinking that her daughter would never come back. Bedoya-Lopez was 18 when she died in 2022. Families are also expected to address the effects of the deaths on their lives.