Youth gets life in triple murder

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This article was published 02/03/2011 (5569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He gunned down three people in cold blood for no other reason except he was mad about being kicked out of a birthday party.

Now a young street gang member who continues to pose a high risk to reoffend has been given the maximum sentence allowed by law for his role in a mass killing.

The 18-year-old, who was 15 at the time of the March 2008 attack, received a mandatory life sentence on Tuesday with no chance of parole for at least seven years. A jury convicted him last year of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Queen’s Bench Justice Colleen Suche then ruled he would be raised to adult court for sentencing.

The youth and a co-accused were found to have fired nearly two dozen gunshots into a crowded birthday party on Alexander Avenue. Those killed were 31-year-old Scott Lavallee, 26-year-old Jennifer Ward and 22-year-old Corey Keeper. Two men and another woman also went to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

“This had a devastating and far-reaching impact,” Suche said Tuesday. The young killer maintains he still has no memory of the night of the shootings. However, his role in the murders was clearly “direct and premeditated,” she said.

Parole eligibility for an adult convicted of first-degree murder is 25 years, but only seven years for youths who receive adult punishment. In this case, the Crown wanted the maximum while defence lawyer Ryan Rolston asked for the mandatory minimum of five years.

Suche ruled Tuesday the teen has shown a pattern of “very troubling” behaviour behind bars, flaunting his affiliation to a street gang and getting into fights with other inmates and staff. As a result, Suche has ordered the teen to serve his sentence in a federal penitentiary. His lawyer was seeking to have him remain in a youth facility.

The teen has 30 days to appeal Suche’s sentence, including the decision to raise him to adult court. His name can be published once the appeal process expires, provided the ruling isn’t overturned.

At the time of the shooting, the youth was wanted for breaching multiple court orders. Defence lawyers had argued he was influenced by a then-18-year-old gang member, Colton Patchinose, who went to the party before the shooting and allegedly believed there were people there who’d stabbed him about 10 days before. Patchinose is also an alleged Indian Posse member and his case is still before the courts. He is presumed innocent.

Court heard Patchinose allegedly left the party, went to a North End home, then returned to the party with the youth and a loaded weapon.

The man who picked up the accused and drove the getaway car, Howard Roulette, was originally charged for his participation but later became a witness, testifying the accused threatened to kill him and made him participate.

Suche lamented the use of “child soldiers” by street gangs who are “constantly at war.”

Christine Belcourt, Lavallee’s mother-in-law, said, “We don’t want to see (the youth) out any time soon.” She said his death meant her daughter was widowed and her grandchildren won’t have a father. She broke down outside the courtroom and called the sentence a “slap on the wrist.”

“This kid, he thinks it’s all a big joke,” she said.

www.mikeoncrime.com