Saskatoon teen was lured to an alley and fatally shot in the back, court hears

SASKATOON -- Guilty pleas have been entered in relation to the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy.

The boy was found dead in the vestibule of the Teacher's Credit Union on Arlington Avenue in Saskatoon on Nov. 2, 2019.

Three teens were arrested and charged following the death.

On Wednesday in provincial court, three boys pleaded guilty to various charges in relation to the killing. One teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death, as well as breach of probation, possession of a firearm and a charge of common assault related to an altercation that occurred while in custody.

A second teen involved in the death pleaded guilty to manslaughter and a third co-accused pleaded guilty to attempted robbery. 

The co-accused and the victim involved in the case cannot be identified due to their age.

Facts read in court describe the incident as a robbery, saying the accused tried to rob the victim of marijuana and marijuana concentrate. 

Crown prosecutor Tyla Olenchuk read out the facts of the case in provincial court. She said on Nov. 2, 2019 video surveillance monitoring the vestibule at TCU bank recorded the victim entering and exiting the building. 

Olenchuk said the victim returned and fell down and was later found to have been shot in the back. Olenchuk said paramedics attempted to resuscitate the victim but failed. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The following day police were called by a woman who said her children had information about the homicide. The woman’s teenage child gave police a statement saying she was called by one of the co-accused, asking for a ride and that he would pay her $50. 

The girl’s step-brother came along for the ride, according to Olenchuk. 

On the morning of Nov. 2, the teen girl picked up the three co-accused and drove to TCU Bank. The girl told police she was instructed to park her vehicle in a back alley. 

The girl told police at one point she saw two of the co-accused and the victim walking in the alley where she was parked.

The witness in the vehicle said the third co-accused pulled a gun out of his pants and wore a bandana as a mask and hid behind a grey box, waiting for the victim to come to the alley.

Once the victim walked to the alley, the witness said one of the accused pointed a gun in the victim’s face. The victim swatted the gun away and a struggle ensued, Olenchuk said.

The witness told police the victim was shot in the back as he ran. The witness heard the victim grunt and continue to run down the alley.

The girl told police the three co-accused ran back to her vehicle “hyped up and telling her to drive away,” Olenchuk said.

As she drove, the girl said the co-accused talked about how they shot the victim and they also didn’t get the ounce of street drugs from the victim.

After leaving the scene, the witness told police he learned the plan was to rob the victim of drugs but no drugs were stolen. Court also heard police said they found drugs and several cell phones on the victim.

Court heard the victim died in the entryway of a TCU bank. Witnesses inside the bank told police they found the victim unresponsive with blood in his mouth and nose.

An autopsy conducted the next day found the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the back. A .22-calibre bullet was retrieved during the autopsy, court heard.

A search warrant of the accused's house turned up a spent .22-calibre casing and two more .22-calibre rounds in the teen's bedroom dresser, court heard.

The accused who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder was sentenced to the maximum seven years with around two years credited for time served on remand. The teen will serve three years in custody and two years under supervision, plus a lifetime firearms ban.

A second co-accused, who pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, was given a sentence of two years of secure custody and one-year supervision.

The third co-accused, 17, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Court heard how the teen orchestrated the meeting with the victim to buy drugs.

Court also heard the teen asked a co-accused to bring a gun and he lured the victim to the alley where the others were waiting for him.

The Crown asked for a three-year sentence with no credit for time spent on remand. The defence argued credit for time served should be considered from the time the teen pleaded guilty to this sentencing date, a timeframe of 211 days.

Justice Gray has reserved her decision to March 25.