Three men on trial for the first-degree murder of 12-year-old Dante Andreatta, who was killed by a stray bullet while walking on Jane Street near Finch Avenue West on Nov. 7, 2020, have been found guilty.
The jury also found Rashawn Chambers, Jahwayne Smart and Cjay Hobbs guilty of five counts of attempted murder in relation to five occupants of a Honda Accord who were being shot at that day.
The jury returned with its verdict at 1 p.m. on Saturday, on its fifth day of deliberations following the five-week trial that began in April.
The fatal shooting shocked the city at the time because it involved an innocent child who was walking home from a McDonald’s restaurant with his mother when he was shot.
In the Crown’s closing arguments, assistant Crown attorney Arian Khader argued Chambers, Smart and Hobbs went to 25 Stong Ct. in a stolen vehicle, wearing masks and gloves, to commit murder.
The Crown said the fact that Smart and Chambers fired 36 rounds at the Honda Accord was powerful evidence the three accused went there to carry out a murder and called the defence theory that they were there to do a drug rip off “far-fetched.”
Khader told jurors that without Deshawn Daley’s testimony about a gun, the defence would have no case. Daley, who the jury heard is in jail for a series of break and enters, testified he pointed a gun out the passenger side window of the Honda when he saw a man running towards the car.
Daley said he didn’t know the man but thought he saw a bulge in his sweater. He told the jury that after shots rang out, he pulled the gun in and rolled up the window.
The Crown said the video evidence does not support Daley’s version of events and argued Daley did not have a gun, given none of the eyewitnesses testified to seeing it. The Crown also said the gun could not have been sticking out of the window, given video surveillance showed the passenger window was fully closed.
The Crown told the jury Daley should not be believed because what he said was impossible. Daley testified he is scared of people coming after him in jail, which is why the Crown said Daley gave favourable evidence to the accused, to mitigate his role in a conviction.
The Crown also argued Smart and Chambers could not have reacted as quickly as they did, letting off 18 rounds each, telling the jury this was a carefully planned and choreographed hit.
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In their closing arguments, Rashawn Chambers’ lawyers, Monte MacGregor and Amanda Warth, argued their client did not commit first-degree murder, nor did he attempt to murder any of the occupants in the silver Honda, calling it a “chance encounter.”
Chambers testified they were drug dealers who went to Stong Court to rip off another drug dealer who believed he was buying a kilogram of cocaine for $60,000.
Due to an apparent shortage of cocaine during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chambers said they were planning to give the dealer baking soda packed like a brick of cocaine instead.
“He believed his friend was shot. He believed he was going to be run down as the silver Honda raced towards him. He freaked out and lost control. He shot instinctively, grabbing the gun from his waist and firing. This whole incident lasted for seven seconds,” said MacGregor.
MacGregor told the jury if they don’t find self-defence applies and Chambers’ actions were excessive, he can only be guilty of manslaughter.
Richard Posner, Smart’s lawyer, argued Smart, who has also admitted to being one of the two shooters, also acted in self-defence when he fired his gun. Posner said Smart was shot at as a 14-year-old child, when he was almost killed lying in bed, and his instinct was to fight not take flight.
Smart, also an admitted drug dealer, testified he always carried a handgun and was not carrying a gun with him to kill anyone that day. The shooting was not arbitrary, Posner told the jury, but a reaction to a Glock 26 handgun being pointed towards him.
Smart and Chambers testified they got out of the car to prove to Hobbs, who was driving, the occupants of the Honda were not connected to a man named “KD.”
Hobbs had arranged for them to sell the fake cocaine to KD through another friend named Baby, but Hobbs had never met KD before and only knew he was driving a silver Nissan. Smart and Chambers told Hobbs it was the wrong make and model of car and thought the occupants looked like kids. Posner also argued the video evidence was not consistent with a planned ambush.
Hobbs’ lawyer Craig Zee said his client should be acquitted of all charges, arguing all three were acting in lawful self-defence when Daley pointed a loaded Glock out of the window. Zee called the Crown’s theory that it was planned “purely speculative,” and because the accused did not know the occupants of the Honda, there was no reason to target anyone involved.
Zee also urged jurors to believe Daley, who never told police about the gun before because he wanted to clear his conscience. His testimony was corroborated by the three accused.
Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett said for Smart and Chambers to be found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury had to be satisfied that the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt the shooting was both planned and deliberate, and they had the state of mind required for murder.
Barrett explained for Hobbs, who was driving, to be found guilty of first-degree murder, the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hobbs knew Smart and Chambers intended to use their firearms, would have perceived bodily harm and drove to 25 Stong Ct. that day to assist in this deliberate act. The Crown must also have proved that he aided them knowing that one or both had the state of mind for murder,
The jury did not hear that Smart had a previous conviction for manslaughter from 2013 after a fatal shooting. He was sentenced to 58 days in custody after 672 days of pre-sentence custody and a one-year conditional supervision order. Smart’s manslaughter conviction was excluded after the defence successfully argued on a Corbett application. Once Barrett ruled on excluding the manslaughter conviction, Smart testified in his own defence.
The jury also did not hear that Hobbs was convicted of second-degree murder for a shooting outside the Bisha Hotel on May 26, 2020. Hobbs was driving the getaway car when Dimarjio Jenkins, also known as the rapper Houdini, was fatally shot. Hobbs was sentenced in March 2024 to a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of 15 years.
The jury also did not hear that roughly 12 hours before Dante Andreatta was shot, there was a shooting outside a motel in Brantford. No one was injured at the time, but police described the shooting as targeted. Chambers, Smart and Hobbs were charged in relation to that shooting but the charges were later stayed. The Crown in this case did not bring an application to tender evidence of that shooting.
A sentencing hearing has been set for July. First-degree murder is a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The issue a judge must decide on is the sentence for the five counts of attempted murder. Those sentences will run concurrent to the life sentence.
