A 16-year-old has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a Mac’s convenience store clerk in 2015.
The youth was originally charged and tried for first-degree murder in the death of Ricky Cenabre. A judge found the youth not guilty of the charge in an Edmonton courtroom Friday, but guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
The boy was 13 at the time and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The youth’s auntie described him as a little boy in a big boy’s body who is sorry for what happened. She said the entire family is relieved he was found not guilty of first-degree murder and guilty of manslaughter instead.
Defence lawyer Akram Attia said he and his client are also pleased with the verdict.
“We feel it was the right decision both on law and circumstances and the evidence presented in this case,” he said outside court on Friday afternoon. “It was always our position that this was a manslaughter.”
In the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2015, two Mac’s store workers – Cenabre, 41, and Karanpal Bhangu, 35, – were shot to death in two robberies at two separate Mac’s locations in south Edmonton.
The fatal shootings were brutal, with police calling them executions.
While the 13-year-old was not the shooter, the Crown argued that he was part of the robbery and that after the first killing he should have known what was going to happen at the second Mac’s store. In its argument for a first-degree murder conviction, the Crown said this showed planning and deliberation.
On Friday, the judge disagreed, saying there was no evidence from surveillance tapes or witnesses to suggest the youth knew the victims were struck by gunfire. The judge also ruled the boy’s youth played a role in the decision.
The verdict comes after the teen pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter in the death of Bhangu, plus two counts of robbery with a restricted or prohibited weapon and two counts of being disguised in both deaths.
At the same time, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Cenabre’s death.
Attia said Friday his client has “lost the formative years of his life being in custody,” but hopes they can reconnect him with older family members for a positive influence in his life.
“He cried upon his arrest and wanted to talk to his brother so he was clearly adversely affected by all of this. Hopefully, as I indicated, moving forward we can get this man some help.”
A date for sentencing has not been set. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of three years. The boy has been in custody since his arrest nearly three years ago, so it’s possible he could soon be released.
Two men were also accused in connection to the deaths. One of them, Laylin Delorme, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder earlier this year. The other, Colton Steinhauer, has not yet been tried.
Watch below: Ongoing Global News coverage of the killings of two Mac’s convenience store clerks and the trials that have followed.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News.