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/ Source: TODAY

By Anna Kaplan

"Under the Bridge," a dramatized true-crime series on Hulu, shows how teenage bullying led to the murder of Reena Virk in 1997.

The series, premiering on April 17, is based on Rebecca Godfrey's 2005 book of the same name. In it, the late writer returns to her hometown of Victoria, Canada, to investigate Virk's murder. Riley Keough portrays Godfrey in the eight-episode series.

Virk, 14, was beaten by fellow teenagers during a massive brawl and later was drowned in Victoria, Canada, on the night of Nov. 14, 1997. Kelly Ellard, then 15, and Warren Glowatski, then 16, were charged with second-degree murder in connection with the slaying.

Vritika Gupta as Reena in "Under the Bridge."Bettina Strauss / Hulu

Six other girls between the ages of 14 and 16 were prosecuted as young offenders in Canada's youth justice system. Authorities did not release the names of the girls as they were minors, but they became known in the media as the "Shoreline Six."

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, three of the six girls pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, and jurors convicted the three other girls on the same charge.

Riley Keough as Rebecca in "Under the Bridge."Darko Sikman / Hulu

Godfrey researched Virk's death for six years, attended court trials and interviewed those involved with the case. Godfrey, who was an executive producer on the Hulu series, collaborated with writer and director Quinn Shephard for more than two years to adapt the book for the screen, The New York Times reported.

Just one week after Hulu announced the dramatized series, Godfrey died at age 54 of complications from lung cancer, according to the Times.

Where is Kelly Ellard now?

Ellard was charged with second-degree murder following Virk's death and was tried as an adult in March 2000. Jurors convicted her, though the the British Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in February 2003, according to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Jurors were deadlocked in Ellard's second trial in June 2004, leading the judge to rule a mistrial, according to Supreme Court documents.

Following Ellard's third trial, she was convicted again in April 2005 and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for seven years, according to Supreme Court documents.

In June 2017, Ellard was granted day parole, a form of conditional release where offenders are able to participate in public activities during the day before returning to prison or a halfway house at night, CBC reported, citing Canadian Parole Board documents.

The Parole Board of Canada has been extending Ellard's day parole in six month increments, according to CBC.

According to documents obtained by CTV from the Parole Board of Canada filed when her day parole was extended in 2018, Ellard had changed her name to Kerry Marie Sim.

Sim, now 41, gave birth to her first child while in prison, and gave birth to her second child while on day parole in 2020, according to parole board documents obtained by CBC.

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