Hamilton man sentenced to 5 years for stabbing death of Brock Beck in road rage fight
CBC
Family members of Brock Beck sobbed in the gallery of a Hamilton courtroom Monday as the man who fatally stabbed him in a Binbrook road rage incident was sentenced to five years in prison.
Thomas Vasquez, 23, will serve 1,825 days, less 492 days for time served, for stabbing Beck in the abdomen during a confrontation after a party. Vasquez, who stood and faced the family to express his remorse, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
"I didn't want to bring sorrow to your family or bring shame to my mine," Vasquez told the family, which includes Beck's father, former NHL star Barry Beck.
"This was a random encounter that should never have happened, and it was one of those situations that escalated quickly."
The full details around what led to Beck's death will likely never be publicly known.
It was early on July 26, 2020, when Vasquez and three friends left a Binbrook house party. They encountered Beck and a 16-year-old friend in another vehicle, and there was a "verbal confrontation," the court heard.
The occupants of the two cars were strangers, and "what was said and who initiated it are unknown," said Justice Amanda Camara, reading from an agreed statement of facts. Most of the people involved were drunk, and Vasquez was asleep in the car when the first tense words were exchanged.
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