Trial underway for 3 men accused in murder of Ontario boy hit by stray bullet
Almost five years after 12-year-old Dante Andreatta was struck by a stray bullet as he was walking along a sidewalk with his mother in North York, the first-degree murder trial for the two alleged shooters and the getaway driver has begun.
In addition to being charged with first-degree murder, Rashawn Chambers, Cjay Hobbs and Jahwayne Smart also face five counts of attempted murder. They have each pleaded not guilty to all six counts.
In his opening address to the jury, assistant Crown attorney Patrick Clement said the shooting happened on Nov. 7, 2020, when a stolen Honda Accord with three masked men inside pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building at 25 Stong Ct., just north Jane Street and Finch Avenue, and approached a car full of teenagers.
'You will see two men get out of the stolen vehicle and after the teenagers begin to drive away from them, they immediately open fire with handguns,' Clement said.
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The jury heard that 18 rounds were fired from each handgun and at least 19 rounds hit the car, striking three boys inside. The teenagers managed to escape with non-life-threatening injuries.
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But as the 12-year-old boy and his mother, who were walking on the westbound sidewalk of Jane Street around 2:20 p.m. reached a spot directly west of 25 Stong Ct., one of the bullets fired by one of the masked men crossed the breadth of Jane Street and struck Andreatta in the neck.
The boy died four days later in hospital. The cause of death: a single perforating gunshot wound to the neck.
Clement told the jury that Chambers and Smart were arrested two days later outside a Canadian Tire at Bay and Dundas streets; they were each carrying a firearm reportedly used in the shooting two days earlier.
On Nov. 12, 2020, five days after the shooting, Hobbs was arrested in Halifax.
The jury was then read an extensive agreed statement of facts (ASF) and shown video exhibits to aide in navigating the ASF.
It is agreed upon that Chambers was one of the shooters and that the shooters were driven to and from 25 Stong Ct. in the stolen Honda Accord by Hobbs. The jury must decide if Smart is the second shooter depicted in the extensive video surveillance, which included the shooting in the parking lot.
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Video shown from a building surveillance camera, and from a dash camera from a parked car in the parking lot of 25 Stong Ct., captured two masked men running and repeatedly shooting at the teenager's car as it drove off.
Screams can be heard in the background. The suspect vehicle can then be seen speeding off.
In his opening address, Clement said Chambers and Smart were arrested two days after the shooting outside the Canadian Tire at Dundas and Bay St. Both men were carrying one of two firearms that were used in the shooting that claimed Andreatta's life. Hobbs was arrested in Halifax five days after the deadly shooting.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
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