A man who deliberately crashed into a 14-year-old boy and watched on as others stabbed him to death with machetes has been found guilty of murder.
Today’s verdict in Victoria’s Supreme Court means three people have now been held responsible for murdering Ethan Hoac in St Albans late on June 26, 2023.
The court heard Ethan and two friends were on Furlong Road when they were set upon by the trio, who were in an SUV.
The driver crashed into Ethan, knocking him to the ground, before two machete-wielding passengers climbed out and stabbed him dozens of times.
The attackers then drove off.
The unprovoked attack lasted less than a minute.
Ethan Hoac was stabbed to death aged 14 in 2023. (Supplied)
Those involved were all under 18 at the time of the incident and cannot be identified for legal reasons.
In 2025, one of the killers was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years’ jail. In sentencing remarks, Justice Jane Dixon said it was hard to comprehend the horror of the murder and called the crime “appalling” and “vicious”.
The ABC can now report that another of Ethan’s killers pleaded guilty to murder in May this year.
The most recent trial centred on the actions of the driver, and whether he could be found guilty of murder on a complicity basis.
Prosecutors argued the man, who was aged 17 at the time, did not stab Ethan but entered into an agreement with the other killers to murder the boy or cause him very serious harm.
The family of Ethan Hoac attended the sentencing of one of his killers in November 2025. (ABC News: Kristian Silva)
The accused’s lawyers argued there was no plan to attack Ethan but things “spiralled very rapidly and tragically out of control”.
Barrister Philip Dunn KC said it was the SUV passengers who were responsible for Ethan’s death, not his client.
“They murdered him. They chopped him up with machetes,” Mr Dunn told the jury.
However, after deliberating for four days, the jury ruled the driver was also criminally responsible for murder.
The now 20-year-old has been in custody since July 2023 and will be sentenced at a later date.
