Crown prosecution has filed direct indictments against the group accused of murdering Taig Savage in Penticton near the high school in 2021.
A direct indictment provides a faster route to trial, skipping any preliminary inquiries, and also helps avoid the case splitting with multiple proceedings.
Three of the four accused in the murder are being tried in youth court due to their age at the time of Savage's murder. Savage was 22 at the time of his death.
Their names are protected from publication due to being under 18 per the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This publication ban extends to any information that could identify them.
The last of the four accused, Isaac H. Jack, is being tried separately as an adult.
All four were served and will have a first appearance in Penticton Supreme Court on the direct indictments in July, the court was told in June. 9.
In addition, the court was also set to hear applications by the Crown to further detain evidence seized during the investigation.
The four were arrested in 2024, following years of desperate pleas for information and answers from Savage's family.
Just before 6 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2021, a passerby out for a walk discovered Savage, injured and unresponsive, lying on the track at Penticton Secondary School.
Officers were called by paramedics, and the situation into a homicide investigation just days before the school year began.
It took more than a week to release Savage's identity, and the manner of his death has never been disclosed, something which frustrated Savage鈥檚 family over the years.
The June 9 appearance was a process appearance, extending their previous release conditions to apply under the direct indictments.
