The second trial of Kelly Ellard, charged with second-degree murder in the 1997 beating death of B.C. teenager Reena Virk, begins Monday.

Ellard, who was 15 years old at the time of the killing, was granted a new trial last year by the Court of Appeal.

Virk, 14, was beaten to death by a group of teenagers in Victoria one night in 1997. Her body was found eight days later floating in a tidal pool outside of Victoria.

Kelly Ellard (file photo)

There were two attacks on Virk.

Six teenage girls were convicted of assault causing bodily harm for the initial beating that left Virk bloodied and staggering.

Prosecutors believe it was a second, subsequent beating that led to Virk's death. One teenaged boy has already been convicted of second-degree murder.

Suman Virk

Ellard's first trial was highly publicized. But the jury in the 22-year-old's re-trial will be asked to disregard whatever they may have heard.

"The jury will be asked to come to a conclusion based on the evidence presented strictly in court, not anything they may have heard outside of court, heard on the radio, read in the paper, seen on TV, nothing of that nature. It's strictly what's presented in this trial as evidence," said Geoffrey Gaul, spokesperson for Crown counsel.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

The case stunned people across Canada and brought to light the issue of bullying, especially among young girls.

Virk's mother Suman, who is among the first witnesses expected to testify at Ellard's trial, said she simply wants the legal ordeal over with.

"Well, it's been a shadow hanging over our head, knowing that we have to face this, final trial," she said. "At each event that happens, you miss Reena's presence there. And you come face to face with the reality that her death was so unnecessary."