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Indian Posse gang member guilty of second-degree murder

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 09/21/2012 5:30 PM | Comments: 0

Shawn Beauchamp was shot dead in a clash between street gangs. (SUPPLIED PHOTO)

A Winnipeg man has been convicted of pulling the trigger in a deadly gang-related shooting.

Joseph Burnell Head learned his fate late Friday morning, nearly 24 hours after jurors began deliberations. He was found guilty of second-degree murder for the death of 26-year-old Shawn Beauchamp, who was found lying in the snow in January 2009 with a gunshot wound to the back.

Head now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. The judge will have the option of raising eligibility as high as 25 years when Head is sentenced later this year.

Crown attorney Mike Desautels has told jurors the evidence was clear that Head, who was a member of the Indian Posse, was one of several men that came across a group of members of the Bloods gang near the corner of St. John’s Avenue and Charles Street that night.

The Crown argued that a fight broke out, during which Beauchamp -- a Bloods member -- was pepper-sprayed. After Beauchamp fell to the ground, Head shot him in the back, the Crown said.

Beauchamp was rushed to hospital, but died of his wounds.

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