The father of a teen accused of killing an 18-year-old Sherwood Park male claims that his son had been threatened by the victim.
"He's threatened my son...there is a text to prove it...there was a death threat there as well," Mark Faltermeier told CTV News Wednesday morning.
Justin Anthony Faltermeier has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 18-year-old Blaine Arthur McNally and made his first court appearance via closed circuit television.
The 18-year-old confirmed that he did not have a lawyer and the judge agreed to give him one week to find representation.
Faltermeier's father also attended the brief court proceedings and spoke to the media shortly after.
"I never expected for something to revolve like this...this bad...it's unfortunate," he said.
The victim's grandfather was also in court, but didn't want to comment on camera, saying only: "Blaine is gone forever."
McNally's mother, Tammy, released a statement Monday stating, "We are embracing the 18 wonderful years we were so lucky to have him for and he filled such a short time with so many laughs and memories. He lived every single second of his short life going as fast as he could and touching and helping as many people as possible. I hope that we all can take his memory and make this world a better place because of him."
The incident happened at the Broadmoor Lake Condominiums in Sherwood Park around 3 a.m. Sunday and it's believed the victim was stabbed in the chest during some sort of gathering. McNally was rushed to the University of Alberta hospital, where he later died.
The suspect was apprehended 20 minutes later. RCMP said they brought police dogs in from Strathcona County, and found the suspect close to the crime scene.
Faltermeier will be back in court on August 5th.
