TORONTO - A teen who murdered a drug-dealing devoted father in a drive-by shooting was vilified by the victim's family at his sentencing hearing yesterday.
"Do you know what you did when you murdered my son in cold blood?" the mother of Shawn "Juice" James told court while reading her victim impact statement.
She held up the front page of a copy of the Toronto Sun -- with a headline reading "Adult Crime, Adult Time" -- to note her displeasure at the lenient sentences meted out to youths for violent crimes.
The youth was 16 when he shot James, 31, on July 22, 2007, on Bleeker St. As a result, the law dictates he cannot be publicly identified.
"My son grew up knowing the most important values of honesty, integrity, kindness and love. It is clear you were not taught (these values) and will never acquire them in your lifetime," the victim's mother, who asked for anonymity, shouted at the teen.
And the woman pointed out that her son's murderer deprived her grandchildren of a loving fixture in their lives.
PLEADED GUILTY
James' killer -- now 19 -- pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month and both Crown and defence lawyers are calling for Justice John McMahon to impose the maximum youth sentence of six years in closed custody, followed by four years living under supervision in a half-way house.
McMahon will pass sentence on Feb. 19.
The murder, while planned and deliberate, may have been triggered by a turf war, court heard. "Shawn James wasn't just some thug or some drug dealer. He was my stepfather and my best friend," sobbed the victim's 13-year-old stepdaughter.
"He brightened people's days, especially mine. So many hearts have been broken because he's not here any more. I'm left heartbroken. I'm broken," said the emotional teen. "Why take a life that was so important and affected many others?"
James was the beloved father of a teenaged daughter and son and he had been with his stepdaughter since she was two years old, court heard.
He was highly respected in the community because he bought walkers for the elderly, supported the disabled and refused to sell drugs to children. The killer was accompanied by an older black man and a street prostitute. The driver circled James twice and on the second pass, the youth fired several shots from an open backseat window.
SAM.PAZZANO@SUNMEDIA.CA
