A Toronto man convicted of murder in the Boxing Day 2005 shooting of Jane Creba will find out on April 24 whether he will be sentenced as a youth or an adult.
J.S.R. is now 21, but he was just under 18 on Dec. 26, 2005 when he was part of two groups of thugs who got involved in a gunfight on Yonge Street.
One bullet struck Creba, a teenager out shopping with her sister, leaving her mortally wounded. Six other people were wounded.
The incident became the culmination of The Year of the Gun. Fifty-two people in Toronto died of gunshot wound that year, a record.
Justice Ian Nordheimer has the power to sentence J.S.R., who can't be fully named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as either a youth or adult.
The Crown seeks an adult sentence, arguing that J.S.R. poses a high risk to reoffend and that a lengthy prison sentence would force the convicted man to take this matter seriously.
JSR has been in custody since he was arrested at Castle Frank subway station about an hour after the shooting. He was holding a handgun, but not the one that fired the shot that killed Creba.
On Wednesday, the Crown argued that if J.S.R. were sentenced as a youth, he could be out on the streets in as few as 10 months, given his time in pre-trial custody.
If sentenced as an adult, J.S.R. would get a life term with no parole eligibility until he had served at least three years and nine months more, said Crown prosecutor Kerry Hughes.
On Thursday, defence lawyer Gary Grill said his client shot and wounded two people, but did not bring a gun to the battle.
He didn't mean to either cause Creba's death or cause her harm, he said.
J.S.R. had a horrendous childhood and grew up into an angry violent, young man with a long track record of anti-social behaviour. He is already the father of two sons aged four and seven.
Grill argued his client has been making progress towards rehabilitation while in detention.
If sentenced as a youth, J.S.R. would get a sentence of no more than seven years, of which only four could be spent in custody. His identity would remain hidden from the general public. If sentenced as an adult, he could be fully named.
Grill said Nordheimer had some discretion in deciding how much more time should spend in custody, adding it should be more than a 10 additional months.
Rehabilitating J.S.R. would be the best long-run protection for the public, Grill said.
Although he didn't fire the shot that killed Creba, the jury was allowed to convict J.S.R. of murder if it felt the Crown proved:
- he participated in a gunfight and
- that another person returned fire that struck and killed a bystander
The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and five weapons charges.
Three adults await trial on second-degree murder charges stemming from the same incident. Four more adults and one young offender are to be tried on manslaughter charges.
Another man, 27-year-old Dorian Wallace, was recently arrested in London, England. Police are awaiting his extradition and will charge him with manslaughter.
