A young woman told jurors how Kelly Ellard admitted to her that she had killed Reena Virk in Victoria's Gorge Waterway in 1997.

Ellard, 21, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Virk's death. The case is being heard on appeal in B.C.'s Supreme Court.

Fourteen-year-old Virk 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.

Reena Virk

Wednesday's testimony came from a woman who cannot be identified because she was a minor at the time when she, herself, was convicted of taking part in a beating of Virk.

She told the court how Ellard took part in an initial group beating of the 14-year-old Virk, before later killing her in a second attack.

The witness was one of six teenage girls convicted of assault causing bodily harm for the initial beating that left Virk bloodied and staggering.

She testified how Ellard told her the next day that she followed Virk after the initial beating, smashed her head into a tree, dragged her down to the water and held her under until she stopped moving.

The woman says Ellard told her a week later she was happy about what she had done.

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

Glowatski, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence for his role in Virk's murder, will take the stand to tell the jury what he and Ellard did to Virk, the Crown prosecutor said.