Teen sentenced to 16-year-old in detention for murdering Vyleen White

The teenager who murdered a 70-year-old Queensland woman last year at a shopping centre has been sentenced to 16 years in detention.

Transcript

00:00Ms White was fatally stabbed by a 16-year-old boy shortly after she arrived at a Red Bank Plains shopping centre in February last year.

00:10Following the attack, which was witnessed by Ms White's young granddaughter, the teenager stole her car and fled the area.

00:17The now 17-year-old, who pleaded guilty to her murder and other charges earlier this year,

00:23faced a sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday and learned his punishment today.

00:29When handing down his 16-year sentence, Chief Justice Helen Boweskill described the teen's offending as selfish and callous.

00:37She ordered he serve 60% of that period in custody.

00:41She was a person who mattered greatly to her family and to the community.

00:47All people matter. Their lives are valuable and precious and are not something to be wasted by senseless and selfish acts of violence.

01:00Your actions in that moment, on the evening of 3 February 2024, have destroyed not just one life, but many people's lives.

01:10Ms White's family were in court for the two-day proceeding and were emotional when the sentence was handed down.

01:16I was gutted. I mean, as Dad said, nothing will ever be enough.

01:21With time already served, the teenager will be released in 2033.