A man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death at Port Place Mall in Nanaimo earlier this year.
Sean Carl John Patterson entered the guilty plea in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo for the death of Serguei Chiliakhov.
On Jan. 22, 2023 around 7 p.m., Patterson stabbed Chiliakhov in the parking lot of the shopping mall. Chiliakhov walked over and collapsed outside the walk-in medical clinic, which had closed at 6 p.m.
Bystanders tried to provide first aid to the victim and paramedics took over to provide medical care once they arrived. The victim was rushed to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for treatment but he was later pronounced dead.
Those in the homeless community say they knew the victim and he had recently gotten clean.
“He cleaned up, he got better. I saw him three or four months ago and he was still 10 months clean. Actually, he took his one-year cake, so he was doing very, very well and he was so happy,” said Teagun Pywell, who has known Chilikhov since they were boys growing up in Duncan.
Patterson had been charged with second-degree murder for the Port Place Mall death, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
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Laura Brougham
