Social media murder: Calgary family says son was killed following online feud

Family and friends of murdered teen Dean Visser filled a courtroom on Friday for a sentencing hearing. Alesia Fieldberg reports.

Family and friends of Calgary boy Dean Visser filled court Friday for a sentencing hearing for the teen who followed and attacked Visser, stabbing him to death over an online feud.

Last June, Dean Visser was killed while walking in the southeast community of Forest Lawn.

In the time since his death, his parents and sister try to focus on happy memories; their outdoor family adventures, his funny faces and love of sushi and lacrosse.

“There’s a part missing ,” said Dean’s father, Kevin Visser from the family’s home in southeast Calgary.

“The fun kid that used to come in and just announce himself, ‘I’m here’ and make a ruckus… You’re waiting for that door to open and him to say ‘I’m home’… and he’s gone.”

“I miss him. I am sad that he’s gone and I understand that the other mom misses her son too,” said Dean’s mom Ruth.

“But I’m sorry she can still talk to them and I can’t talk to Dean ever again.”

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The 17-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in Visser’s death later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after negotiations between defence counsel Rebecca Snukal and Crown prosecutor Darren Maloney.

Kevin said the deal resolved court proceedings much more quickly by avoiding the need of a trial.

The killer is now 18 but cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

He had been in trouble with the law before and was on probation when he killed Visser.

The Crown did not seek an adult sentence, so the maximum is seven years; four spent in custody and three under community service.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Lisa Silver is set to make her decision at Calgary Courts Centre on June 20.

Family and friends told court Visser was a thoughtful kid who was full of laughter, mischief and potential.

Visser’s mom said it’s been “379 days of tears” since losing her boy.

His sister said it shattered her world when she lost her baby brother, and she longs to do puzzles together and hug him again.

Visser’s dad told court Dean once cooked a meal for a homeless person he met, and would always befriend new teammates in sports.

He said Visser was just returning a lost hoodie to a friend and was not expecting a fight.

The killer was in court but chose not to speak.

His father made a statement, saying he feels bad for the Visser family and his son too, because he has to live with it.

The killer’s lawyer argued that his cognitive issues and childhood instability should be factors in the sentence.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Lisa Silver is set to make her decision at Calgary Courts Centre in August.

‘I saw him, saw rage’

An agreed statement of facts was filed following the killer’s guilty plea in May.

It says that Visser and the killer “harboured animosity” toward each other, including through messages on Instagram.

On Thursday, June 6, 2024, around 7 p.m., Visser and his girlfriend were walking in the 1300 block of 41 Street S.E., on their way to meet friends.

Visser was wearing an expensive hooded sweater from the brand A Bathing Ape (also known as BAPE) and was carrying another BAPE for his girlfriend.

The killer spotted them and followed then, with his hood pulled up and a knife in his hand, he ran behind the couple, stabbing Visser three times.

Visser shouted “who are you?” during the attack.

The killer responded, “Give me that BAPE.”

Visser said “you can have the BAPE” giving the sweater to the attacker, who then ran away with the BAPE.

Visser’s girlfriend and another witness called 911.

Paramedics arrived and took him to Alberta Children’s Hospital, where Visser died less than two hours later.

“Movies where they show operating rooms in chaos, that’s what we saw. There were probably 20 people working on him doing different things … and being able to do nothing,” said Kevin.

The killer returned home. His mother called her son’s probation officer saying her son had been attacked by Visser.

When police arrived at the killer’s home and arrested him, he first told investigators he acted in self-defence at a meeting he and Visser set up to settle their feud.

When police said they had security camera video of the attack, he changed his story, saying he spotted Visser and rushed to catch up and stab him out of anger because of their feud.

“I blacked out, I saw him, saw rage, and just went forward,” the killer told investigators.

Social media ‘a dangerous tool’

Visser was wrapping up his Grade 11 year at Discovering Choices, an outreach school for students facing obstacles.

Dean’s family said he had challenges dealing with some “frenemies” before, but his family had never heard about the boy who attacked their son.

“As far as we know, the only way these two boys interacted was through social media and it’s a powerful tool and it’s also a dangerous tool,” said Kevin.

He added that parents need to help their children navigate and be more aware of the dangers it poses.

“Social media life is not real and I think a lot of people don’t realize that,” said Ruth.

“A fight over words on Instagram became real one day,” Kevin said.

“It was only real for one of the two people that it was supposed to be a fight. The other person thought it was a war words and he’s the one that suffered.”

Lacrosse legacy

Visser’s family’s does not want the violent end to be the only thing people remember about his son.

“He was really fun to be around,” said his dad. “Looking out for people, helping people, goofing off.”

Visser was very athletic and especially enjoyed playing lacrosse with the Calgary Axemen, until he graduated out in 2023.

He also loved watching Roughnecks games with his family and hoped to get into coaching or refereeing games.

On Feb. 22, the Calgary Roughnecks welcomed more than 100 members of Visser’s family and friends to a game where they honoured the teen.

“Him and his family spent a lot of time at Roughnecks games and it’s something that really brought them together as a family and we thought since they had such a connection to the team and the sport that we wanted to be part of it in any way we could,” said Dustin Edwards, manager of Calgary Roughnecks lacrosse.

The Roughnecks worked with the family to create the Dean Visser Youth Player Coaching and Refereeing Development Fund.

It’s expected to start training youth how to coach and officiate lacrosse games later this year.