Teen who ate ice cream before mowing down a defenceless 14-year-old and watching his mates hack the boy to death insists he was ‘reckless’, not evil
A teenager who ate an ice cream before he ran down a complete stranger and then watched him be hacked to death insists he was simply ‘reckless’.
The 17-year-old – who can’t be named because of his age – had pleaded not guilty to being complicit in the murder of Ethan Hoac in Melbourne’s north-west on June 26, 2023.
But a jury found him guilty and he faced the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday for a pre-sentence hearing.
Ethan was walking along Furlong Road in St Albans with two friends at 10.52pm when the group drove at him in a Volkswagen Tiguan and struck him.
Moments earlier the three offenders were seen entering a juice centre on Clarke Street, Sunshine, where one was caught on CCTV using his phone to pay for ice cream.
One of the three teenage offenders pleaded guilty in May to a charge of murder, with another sentenced last year to a maximum of 17 years in jail.
The court heard the boys who pleaded guilty admitted the offence on a joint criminal enterprise basis – that they had entered into an agreement or understanding with others to attack Ethan with intent to cause death.
The decision to kill had only been made moments before the attack, with none of the teen killers having known Ethan.
Ethan Hoac and his mum in happier times
As Ethan and his two friends crossed the road, the stolen Tiguan swerved onto the wrong side of the road and deliberately struck Ethan, throwing him into the air, the court heard.
Two occupants of the car then got out and stabbed and kicked Ethan as he lay injured and attempted to crawl away.
The attack lasted about 20 seconds until sirens in the distance caused the offenders to flee the scene, leaving Ethan on the road.
An autopsy later found Ethan had suffered 30 stab wounds and four other wounds across his chest, back, arms, hand and scalp.
Seven wounds struck vital organs, including the pulmonary artery, both lungs, the spleen, both kidneys and the liver, causing lung collapse and severe internal blood loss.
Prosecutors said the driver’s actions were pivotal in seeing the brutal murder through to its fatal fruition.
But the teenager’s barrister John Desmond suggested his client simply ‘glanced’ Ethan with the stolen car.
Mr Desmond denied his client deliberately drove at the group and said the judge could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of deliberate driving.
Ethan (in white) tried to run for his life before he was hacked down
Police attend the scene where Ethan was murdered in St Albans in June 2023
‘Our case at trial was he was reckless … you might think he was very reckless in the way he drove that car,’ he said.
‘The evidence of the pathologist [was] that this was consistent with a glancing blow, which would be contra indicative of deliberately driving at the group.’
But that was largely dismissed by Justice Amanda Fox, who is sentencing the youth.
‘I have to say, and the trial’s over now, that I have watched that footage repeatedly. And in my view, that is deliberate driving,’ she said.
‘It is my view that that was deliberate driving, deliberately driving at that group of pedestrians. That in my view is consistent with the evidence.’
Ethan’s mother Annie Huynh, who has suffered through countless court hearings before her son’s killers were finally brought to justice, gave a heartbreaking victim impact statement outlining her grief.
‘I lost Ethan, and I lost the purpose of life. I feel so empty,’ she told the court.
Ms Huynh spoke of her son’s funeral, recalling that she ‘felt helpless’ and had wanted to go with him.
Ethan Hoac didn’t stand a chance
Ethan Hoac and his heartbroken mother
She said she was haunted by not knowing her son’s final moments.
‘I want to know the last moment when he died. Does he call my name or call me to help him?’ she said.
Despite her grief, she said she took comfort in her son’s character and his final act of protecting his friends.
‘Before he died, he told his friends, just run, leave him. He didn’t ask them to stay. He kept them safe,’ she said.
She described her son as ‘a very sweet boy, always smiling,’ adding that ‘he always said that he was my favourite son.’
Ms Huynh said she did not hate her son’s killers, but wanted them to understand the gravity of what they had done.
‘I want them to learn from their mistake and not make another family grieve, like me and my family have,’ she said.
She described the lasting psychological impact of watching evidence during the trial.
‘Watching the last moments of Ethan’s life on camera, when he was smiling with his friends, I wish that moment could be forever,’ she said.
The pre-sentence hearing will continue at a later date.
