Family of Kenneth Lee says it's haunted by his final moments

Family members of a homeless Toronto man who died after police allege he was swarmed and stabbed by a group of teen girls say the thought of his last moments haunts them.

A Crown prosecutor read out victim impact statements from Kenneth Lee's sister, brother-in-law and cousin Friday at a sentencing hearing for one of the girls accused in his death.

The girl pleaded guilty this spring to manslaughter in Lee's death.

In total, four girls have pleaded guilty in the case — three to manslaughter and one to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.

The remaining four are set to be tried in Superior Court next year, three of them on a charge of second-degree murder and one on a charge of manslaughter.

In her statement, Lee's sister Helen Shum says the realization she will never see her brother's face, hear his voice, or listen to one of his "corny" jokes again is "heartwrenching."

"Every birthday, every celebration, every holiday will never be the same. He was loved," she wrote in her statement.

"I have lost my brother, my mother has lost her son, my children have lost their uncle. Our family will never be whole again. No words can ever fully express the never ending pain and emptiness felt due to the death of my only sibling."

Shum said she has not been able to sleep properly since her brother's death.

Her children, too, have been deeply affected by the trauma of their uncle's death, Shum's statement said, describing her son and daughters as afraid and withdrawn.

Lee was a mentor to his nieces, a "shining light in their life," she said.

"The pain and fear he must have endured haunts them every day," the statement said.

Shum said Lee was the only son in a Chinese family, and as a result, he was "overprotected and over-supported" by his family.

"Perhaps due to this, he did not always make the best decisions for himself or his personal relationships. He never learned to stand on his own," she said.