In the wake of Toronto police charging a teenager with first-degree murder in the shooting death of eight-year-old Jahvai Roy, questions are being raised about the sentence he could receive if convicted. The suspect was 15 years old at the time of the shooting and is therefore protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“We know with an adult sentence, it’s a mandatory life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. With a youth, the actual maximum term of custody is 10 years for a first-degree murder,” says criminal defence lawyer Nick Cake, who is not directly involved in the case.
However, Cake says only six years would be served in custody, with the remainder under conditional supervision. But how does time spent in custody prior to a sentence factor in if adults typically get a day and a half for time served?
“So ultimately, a youth can get credit for the time served in custody. They could potentially get more credit than an adult could, but there are circumstances where a youth will get less credit because the sole jurisdiction and discretion lies with the judge sentencing the youth.”
Cake adds that it could be almost two years before this case makes it to trial. The court system is currently dealing with a backlog attributed to a lack of space, judges, and prosecutors. According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, fewer criminal cases are being tried in Ontario courts on a yearly basis. For instance, in 2013, there were about 120,000 trial decisions, while in 2023, there were nearly 24,000 fewer.
While Roy was shot and killed by a stray bullet in bed in the early hours of August 16 after gunfire erupted outside his family’s North York apartment, leaving some to ask how the teenage suspect is facing a murder charge in this case.
“To commit the murder while committing another indictable offence,” explained Cake. “And I think that that is how the Toronto Police Service has got to this particular first-degree murder charge. We’re talking about a stray bullet. Well, where do bullets come from?”
The now 16-year-old is facing five firearm-related offences in addition to the first-degree murder charge.
Two youth suspects remain outstanding, and despite the Youth Criminal Justice Act, police have received judicial authority to identify them due to the seriousness of the alleged crimes.
So far this year, Toronto’s police chief says 13 youths have been accused in relation to homicides.
“This is not just a policing issue. This is all levels of government, the entire system that supports our communities must find a way to come together to solve these issues,” said Myron Demkiw. “We have to get past some of the silos, some of the issues that constrain our ability to share information.”
