The 14-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 15-year-old in Barrie earlier this week made a brief court appearance on Friday.

The boy appeared emotionless as he scanned the courtroom.

There was no family present for either the suspect or the victim who were both believed to have lived in a foster home in the city’s south-west end.

His defence lawyer says his client is ‘devastated.’

“I think this is an enormous tragedy for everybody,” says Sheldon Wisener.  “My first thoughts when I first received the phone call was, ‘my goodness, it’s a 14-year-old kid,’ and this is horrifying.  It really is.  It’s a tragedy for both families.”

There is still a police presence in the area where the alleged murder took place.

A post-mortem was done yesterday, but police have not released the cause of death.

The accused also faces charges of aggravated assault, and failure to comply.

He is scheduled to have another court date on March 8.