RADILIH KOE/FORT GOOD HOPE
A publication ban has been lifted on the identity of Charlotte Lafferty's killer.

Keenan McNeely was 17 when he murdered 23-year-old Charlotte Lafferty. -

Twenty-one-year-old Keenan McNeely was a youth - just a month shy of 18 - when he brutally murdered and sexually assaulted the 23-year-old mother of three on March 22, 2014 in Fort Good Hope.

A standard publication ban protects youth offenders from being named in the media.

Last month, NWT Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau sentenced McNeely as an adult for the first-degree murder, ordering him to prison for life with no chance of parole for 10 years.

While the publication ban of a youth's name is normally lifted after being sentenced as an adult, this was not the case last month.

Justice Charbonneau ordered a temporary ban on McNeely's name be upheld at the request of the man's defence lawyer, Charles Davison.

Crown prosecutor Annie Piche confirmed that temporary ban had been lifted May 1.

During criminal proceedings, court heard Lafferty was sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a stick outside a senior's complex in Fort Good Hope.

Her murder was described by police as horrific and indescribable.

Lafferty's relatives flew to Yellowknife for last month's sentencing, where they were seen weeping and comforting one another with hugs at the courthouse in the wake of Charbonneau's decision.

At the time, they described Lafferty as having many friends and family in the community.

One relative, who wished not to be named, explained they were thankful "justice had prevailed," but expressed doubt they would be able to forgive the man for taking Lafferty's life.

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