A teenager charged with manslaughter in the high-profile slaying of 15-year-old Jane Creba in downtown Toronto was freed from jail on Wednesday after his charge was dismissed.
A judge ruled there wasn't enough evidence to send the suspect to trial. The boy, who was 16 years old during the shooting, cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
"The case against my client is very weak," the teen's lawyer, Sal Calamanna, told reporters outside the Old City Hall courts.
"The judge has found that when all the evidence that was put forward against (my client) was weighed, that no reasonable jury, properly instructed, could have found him guilty."
Calamanna said the boy and his family "is very pleased" by the outcome.
The boy's mother described the last two years as "hell." She added, "I knew he was innocent from the day one."
During the same preliminary hearing, however, another young co-accused was ordered to stand trial for manslaughter. He also cannot be identified by law.
Reasons for the judge's decisions cannot be reported because of a publication ban.
In late August, another youth charged in the case was ordered to stand trial for second-degree murder. He is also charged with six counts of attempted murder and nine firearms offences.
Creba was killed while shopping on Yonge Street on Boxing Day 2005 when a wild shootout erupted.
Police affidavits filed in court suggest a scuffle between two gangs inside the Eaton Centre led to the full-blown street shootout outside the Foot Locker store.
Five bystanders were hit by the hail of bullets, as was the teen freed from jail on Wednesday, CTV's Chris Eby reported.
The second youth in court on Wednesday, who was ordered to stand trial, started the fight that led to the shootout, according to court papers, Eby said.
Some six months after the incident, police conducted a series of pre-dawn raids and rounded up 25 suspects. Ten were charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder charges.
Seven adult accused are in the midst of a preliminary hearing which is scheduled to conclude this fall.
The first trial is expected to begin next September.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
