He will be sentenced in Calgary on May 1 for the stabbing death of his father

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A “childlike” Calgary man convicted of murdering his elderly father will be sentenced next month.

Student Mackenzie McCaffrey appeared in Calgary Court of Queen's Bench on Friday to set a half-day sentencing hearing for Vincent Fong on May 1 on behalf of defense attorney Kathryn Beyak.

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McCaffrey told Judge Glen Poelman that he had been in contact with the court's probation coordinator to schedule a hearing to determine Beyak Fong's parole eligibility.

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“A sentencing date has been set and that date, sir, is May 1,” McCaffrey said.

He asked Poelman to issue a judge's order that Fong be present before Judge Paul Jeffrey to hear submissions from the defense and Crown prosecutor Margot Angley.

Fong, 41, was convicted of second-degree murder on March 4 after jurors rejected Beyak's plea that his client was in an abusive relationship when he killed his 70-year-old father, Shu Kwan (Ken) Fong.

The lawyer argues that this lessens the guilt of his client and that he should only be convicted of manslaughter.

Bejak told the 11-member jury that his client's mental health problems, including intellectual disabilities and severe autism, made him unable to escape the hands of his abusive father.

But Angley, seeking a charge of second-degree murder, suggests that Fong is no different from any child who doesn't enjoy being bullied by their parents.

“He's very childish in some ways,” she said, urging jurors not to sympathize with Fong when deciding their sentence.

On the afternoon of January 9, 2019, Fong pushed his father down the stairs at the family's northwest Calgary home, then stabbed him multiple times after the deceased scolded him.

Beyak said Fong's autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and mild intellectual disability made him more likely to be victimized by his father.

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