Lacrosse hazing included high schoolers staging armed abduction, prosecutor says
A group of high school students in upstate New York are being threatened with charges of kidnapping if they don't turn themselves into authorities over a lacrosse team hazing prank in which participants are accused of staging an armed abduction of younger players.
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Prosecutors allege members of the lacrosse program at Westhill High School in suburban Syracuse planned a team trip to McDonald's that ended with one player being tied up, blindfolded and put into a trunk, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said.
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The alleged victim was led to believe he would be abandoned in a remote area, but was returned to his home without being physically harmed.
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'I cannot adequately express to this community the level of stupidity and lack of judgment involved in this case,' Fitzpatrick told reporters Tuesday evening.
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Fitzpatrick said a person driving five younger players on the team pretended to get lost, pulled over in a place where other participants in the prank lay in wait, armed with at least one knife and a weapon that appeared to be a gun.
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That's when the students launched the fake abduction. While the student wasn't hurt physically, 'emotionally, that's going to be long term,' Fitzpatrick said.
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'This is not lighting a bag on fire on Halloween and sticking it in your driveway, this is criminal activity,' he said, adding that it could have led to a fatal shooting if police had come across the scene and saw 'a kid with a hood over his head being abducted at gunpoint.'
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The events were captured on video, and Fitzpatrick said that the local sheriffs office identified 11 people they believe participated either directly or indirectly. in the ruse. He's offering those people — some of whom are 18 — until Thursday to turn themselves in and face lower-level charges that would not result in jail time.
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Those who don't turn themselves in would face felony charges.
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'Don't come crying to me two weeks from now and say, 'You charged my little baby with kidnapping.' Yeah, that's right. Most of my prosecutors can win cases that are on videotape,' said Fitzpatrick.
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Global News
31-05-2025
- Global News
3 Toronto men guilty of 1st-degree murder of 12-year-old boy struck by stray bullet in 2020
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 it's 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. Story continues below advertisement 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. Story continues below advertisement 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. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 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. Story continues below advertisement 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. Story continues below advertisement 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. Story continues below advertisement 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 but 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pride is not just a parade — it's a fight for survival
Opinion This weekend, when you think of Pride, spare a moment to think about Kady Grass. Just two weeks ago, the 19-year-old was beaten severely by five men as she left the bathroom of a McDonald's restaurant in a suburb outside Chicago with her 13-year-old niece. Witnesses and closed-circuit video cameras confirmed that the attackers used homophobic taunts and insults right before the attack. Grass was beaten unconscious and suffered a broken nose. Two of the men who attacked her — one 19, one 16 — have been charged with a variety of offences including one count of perpetrating a hate crime. Mike Sudoma / Free Press files Violent hate crimes and the legal persecution of LGBTTQ+ people is a growing, global phenomenon. 'They attacked me because I like women,' Grass said in a social media post. 'All I did was exist that day. I went to go spend time with my family, and then, I was brutally attacked. There was nothing I did to deserve that.' The key statement is Grass' acknowledgement that she was attacked simply because she existed. That is something we all need to keep in mind as we enter the final weekend of Pride festivities here in Manitoba because, in case you hadn't heard, the very existence of LGBTTQ+ people here, across Canada, all over North America and across the world is under attack. In 2023, even as the incidence of overall violent crime was going down, Statistics Canada reported that hate crimes against LGBTTQ+ people had gone up 70 per cent. It's not just a blip; since 2016, hate crimes targeting sexual orientation have gone up by nearly 400 per cent. In the United States, the situation is similar in some ways, worse in others. The 2023 National Crime Victimization Survey found that LGBTTQ+ people were five times more likely to be a victim of violence than non-LGBTTQ+ people, and nine times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime. It's also not just a North American phenomenon. 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But in its earliest days, it was a courageous act of defiance against the legal and political systems that endorsed unmitigated violence and persecution. So, this weekend, it would be a great gesture if we all paid tribute to the origins of Pride, while keeping in mind the reason it exists. Most non-LGBTTQ+ people, when they hear the term 'Pride,' will almost automatically think 'parade.' When you hear the word 'Pride' this year, think 'survival.' Dan LettColumnist Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan. Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Ottawa Citizen
25-05-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa man charged with second-degree murder in femicide
An Ottawa man has been charged with second-degree murder in relation to a femicide of 54-year-old Rachelle Desrochers, who was reported missing last month. Article content Desrochers was last seen on March 14 at the McDonald's on Elgin Street, according to an Ottawa Police Service release last month. Article content On Sunday, the OPS said they have charged a man in relation to her death. Article content Joshua Blair, 35, was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a dead body. Article content Article content Police said he appeared in court on Sunday. Article content Article content 'While the remains of Rachelle Desrochers have not yet been recovered, investigators have reason to believe she was killed and that her body may be located in a local landfill, where search efforts are ongoing,' police said in a release. Article content Police said the murder is considered a femicide. The OPS defines a femicide as the intentional killing of women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender women and gender non-conforming individuals because of their gender. Article content 'OPS names femicide as part of its commitment to ongoing efforts to improve their response to Violence against Women (VAW) and to prevent femicide and commits to ongoing collaboration with the VAW sector. Article content 'Identifying and naming instances of femicide in Ottawa is critical to the development of more nuanced prevention initiatives and more accurate documentation of this form of violence,' the police said in an emailed statement on Sunday morning. Article content
