A man convicted for killing two Edmonton convenience store workers will have a chance to be free after 25 years.
On Tuesday, a judge decided Laylin Delorme will serve his first-degree murder convictions concurrently, which means he will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
In June, Delorme was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the December 2015 shooting deaths of Mac’s employees Karanpal Banghu and Ricky Cenabre.
“Twenty-five years… Even a hundred years, not enough,” said Cenabre’s relative Faith Alcazaren.
“I just hope that when he reaches 50 and he will be given a chance to go out and live and be with his son, I hope he will change.”
READ MORE: Man guilty of first-degree murder in deaths of Edmonton Mac’s clerks
Each murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The Crown argued Delorme should serve those sentences consecutively, which would have meant he would not have been eligible for parole for 50 years.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2015, two Mac’s store workers – Cenabre, 41, and 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.
“My aunt has a panic attack,” Alcazaren said. “She’s still in depression.”
When asked if she thinks Cenabre’s family could ever forgive Delorme, Alcazaren said she wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know. It ripped our heart out.”
After court, emotions boiled over in the courthouse lobby as a group of people who were in court for Delorme walked past the Cenabre family. At that point Cenabre’s son seemingly rushed the other group, screaming and had to be held back by his family.
Sheriffs intervened and tried to calm emotions. Throughout all this, anguished sobs could be heard throughout the courthouse lobby.
“He said get out from our country. You do not belong here or else something will happen,” Alcazaren told Global News. “Cedric heard it and Cedric went to attack him. I’m so scared.”
In an email to Global News, Delorme’s mother denied the verbal attack. She said she left the courtroom Tuesday “filled with hope” and thanked the judge “for his mercy.”
“We left happy, leaving the last three years behind, knowing that my son had hope,” she wrote. “We are trying to heal. For five people, and countless others, lives changed on Dec.18, 2015.”
READ MORE: Youth guilty of manslaughter in 2015 death of Edmonton Mac’s clerk
In November, a 16-year-old boy was given a three-year manslaughter sentence in connection with the killings.
The teenager was in custody since his arrest three years ago. With credit for time served, he will be released on Dec. 14 and serve the final three days of his sentence in the community.
Meanwhile, another suspect, Colton Steinhauer, goes on trial next year.
With files from Caley Ramsay, Global News.
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