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Crown seeks adult sentence for teen who killed pizza worker

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 10/22/2012 4:17 PM | Last Modified: 10/23/2012 1:38 PM | Updates

Gerald Crayford (FACEBOOK PHOTO )

Manitoba justice officials are seeking an adult sentence against a 16-year-old boy who admits to killing a restaurant employee with an axe during an armed robbery.

The teen — who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder. His is set to be sentenced in January and remains in custody.

As a youth, he would face a maximum penalty of four years behind bars. If raised to adult court, he would be given a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for at least seven years.

The brutality of the deadly May 2011 attack inside Pizza Hotline left even veteran police and justice officials shaking their heads in disgust. Sources told the Free Press the 54-year-old victim, Gerald Crayford, put up no resistance during the incident at 1100 Concordia Ave.

"This was seriously... beyond words in terms of the seriousness of the incident," Winnipeg Police Service Const. Natalie Aitken said at the time. She described what happened to Crayford as "more than concerning."

Aitken said the victim’s family wanted to highlight the donation of Crayford’s organs.

The Free Press previously uncovered details about the then-15-year-old killer, who is no stranger to the legal system. At the time of the attack, the teen was on bail, on probation and fresh out of jail following a recent arrest for a family disturbance.

He was initially arrested in July 2010 following an armed holdup at a Mac’s store on London Street, which is located in the same East Kildonan neighbourhood as Pizza Hotline. There were no injuries.

He spent 103 days in custody before pleading guilty in November 2010. The court heard he needed money to fuel a drug habit. A provincial court judge gave the teen a sentence of time served plus 18 months of supervised probation, which included several conditions including abstaining from drugs and alcohol and not possessing any weapons. The boy was also ordered to live with his mother and three siblings.

Police re-arrested him in March 2011 after the mother called to report a disturbance. The teen was allegedly yelling and swearing at family members, including his five-year-old sister. Sources say the mother told police the family was "walking on eggshells" around the teen, who was still dealing with drug issues and "uncontrollable rage."

The teen was charged with breaching his probation. He spent a few nights at the Manitoba Youth Centre before his mother agreed to take him back under the same conditions as his original release, this time on bail.

His next contact with police came days after the fatal attack when he was grabbed by homicide detectives near Munroe Avenue and Panet Road on a charge of killing the restaurant employee.

Police also arrested an adult co-accused who remains before the courts and is presumed innocent. Byron Bushie, 19, is also charged with second-degree murder.

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