The first guilty plea related to the Jane Creba murder investigation was entered in a Toronto, Ont. court Thursday morning with a 19-year-old man admitting to gun and drug charges in the case.

Richard Steele pleaded guilty in an Old City Hall courtroom to conspiracy charges involving the sale of crack cocaine and at least eight handguns. He was arrested seven months ago during a Toronto police raid dubbed 'Project Green Apple.'

The police investigation was given that name because Creba was reportedly fond of the fruit.

While the charges are not directly related to Creba's murder, Steele witnessed the shootings that left her dead and six others wounded.

Steele's own lawyer said in court that his client may have been the intended target of the gunshots that took the 15-year-old girl's life and injured several others on Boxing Day of 2005.

Asked if Steele was one of the shooters on the fatal day, defence lawyer Selwyn Pieters said no.

"He did not shot (sic.) anyone that day," Pieters said outside court. "Police is alleging that he was shot on Boxing Day ... I'm not sure whether he was or wasn't."

The police investigation into the Boxing Day shooting discovered that about an hour before those fatal moments, Steele was involved in a scuffle outside the Eaton Centre at Yonge and Dundas Streets.

Steele was seen by a video surveillance camera in the area being robbed at gunpoint of his cellular telephone. A short time later, shots rang out on Yonge Street, just north of Dundas.

Court also heard that Steele may have been shot that day. He allegedly fled the scene without ever seeking medical attention for any injuries.

Prosecutors offered Steele a deal in court Thursday. In exchange for his guilty pleas for dealing guns and drugs, Steele was given a six-month sentence. That time is on top of the seven months he has already served.

He is expected to be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence, or four months.

The judge made note of the weariness Torontonians are feeling about gun violence, but approved the plea deal hammered out by the Crown and defence.

The Crown hopes Steele will testify against the others involved in the shooting that day.

Outside court, his mother Valerie said that will not happen.

To the Creba family she said, "The loss of her life is our loss."

The court heard that it was her home where Steele stashed his cocaine. Valerie, a judge on Ontario's rent tribunal, has been charged with allegedly lying during her son's bail hearing.

Boxing Day terror

Yonge Street's sidewalks were crowded with Boxing Day bargain seekers when the shots rang out.

Gunmen sprayed bullets into the crowd just north of the Eaton Centre, sending shoppers diving for cover. It appeared that two groups of youths were shooting at each other from either side of the street.

When the dust settled, seven people had fallen victim to the gunfire, including an off-duty police officer. Five victims were taken to hospital, two in serious condition. Creba was the sole fatality.

News of her death made headlines around the world and shocked Toronto residents who were weary from a year of gun violence on city streets.

In the days that followed a makeshift memorial of flowers cards and toys began to form on the sidewalk near where the young girl had fallen.

Community groups called for help from government to fix the root causes of violence. Others, including politicians, called for stiffer sentences for gun-related crimes.

Creba's murder was recorded as the 78th homicide in Toronto and the 52nd involving a firearm in 2005.

With a report from CTV's John Lancaster