A southern Ontario man pled guilty Wednesday to manslaughter for the 2022 shooting death of a Manitoulin Island man.
Hanif Glave-Duncan had originally been charged with second-degree murder, but pled guilty to the lesser charge as part of a plea bargain.
Ducan, also known as Jordan Doe and Jordan Duncan on Manitoulin, appeared by video wearing a purple T-shirt from what looked like to be a home.
He admitted to Justice Alexander Kurke that he shot and killed Cheyenne Roy, 32, at a residential unit on Wiigush Miikan in Sheguiandah First Nation on June 24, 2022.
Duncan, who is from Hamilton, was 20 years old at the time of the murder and was involved in the drug subculture, assistant Crown attorney David Court told the court.
At the time, he was in a relationship with Payton Atawish and was selling drugs out of her home. Roy was shot and killed in her home, Kirk said in an agreed statement of facts.
Robbery gone wrong
That night, Roy was at his brother’s place in the same four-plex as Atawish.
Armed with bear mace, the victim told his brother, Brandon Shawanda, he was going to confront Duncan and rob him of drugs and money.
When someone answered the door, Roy sprayed the bear mace, hitting at least two people inside.
That’s when Duncan emerged from a bedroom with a gun and shot Roy in the leg before running out the back door.
Bleeding heavily, Roy was pulled out of Atawish’s home by his brother and a female.
A black male with dreadlocks appeared and pointed a gun at them, so the pair hid behind a wall.
Roy told his brother that Duncan shot him.
When a woman in a white and grey vehicle stopped by, Duncan got into the trunk and another man got into the back seat.
The woman was stopped, but police did not find the accused because he was hiding in the trunk.
At one point, the car pulled over and the gun used in the shooting was buried.
Accused takes issue with facts
After the Crown finished reading what was supposed to be the agreed statement of facts into the record, Duncan told the judge he disagreed with some of the information because of how it makes him look.
“It looks like you shot someone with a gun,” Kurke said.
Trying to ascertain what he disagreed with, the judge confirmed Duncan admitted he shot Roy in the leg, used a handgun and hopped into the trunk of a car to get away.
“I am satisfied I can enter a conviction on the charge of manslaughter,” Kurke said.
The Crown and the defence are expected to finalize the version of facts by the next court appearance in June.
Facing up to life in prison
An enhanced pre-sentencing report called a Morris Report has been ordered to address systemic racism and give a “historical and social account of the Black experience in Canada.”
This will help inform the sentencing.
However, defence attorney Adele Monaco told the court that the report could take seven months to complete due to a shortage of the social workers and psychologists.
Once the report is ready, both sides will present sentencing submissions. However, Kurke said he alone will determine the sentence, which is a minimum of four years because it involves a firearm and a maximum of life in prison.
While he doesn’t have to accept the Crown or defence’s sentencing suggestions, Kurke added that “it would be a rare circumstance that a judge doesn’t go along with the range or agreed sentence.”
In the meantime, the Crown was asked to get victim impact statements filed on behalf of the family.
