A teenaged girl facing second-degree murder charges in the beating death of Reena Virk will stand trial in adult court after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear her appeal.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal had previously dismissed Kelly Ellard's bid to stay in youth court.

Ellard has previously been known in the media only as K.M.E. She was 16 at the time of Virk's death in 1997 and could not be named under the Young Offenders Act.

Since Ellard will now be tried in adult court, she can be named. The Supreme Court ruling also means she could face stiffer penalties.

Ellard's trial is set for November in Vancouver. It follows the trial of 18-year-old Warren Glowatski, who is also charged with second-degree murder in Virk's death.

Glowatski has testified to kicking Virk but he says Ellard, not him, was ultimately responsible for Virk's death.

Virk was beaten by a group of teenagers in Victoria where she lived. She drowned after being dragged to a waterway and left unconscious.