'Gun violence is a plague': Shooter in 2022 incident gets 7 years

A Toronto man who shot another man in Barrie’s south end in 2022 was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday.

Ontario Court Madame Justice Cecile Applegate passed sentence after Michael Williams, now 20, pleaded guilty to a long list of gun- and robbery-related charges about a year ago.

Williams has been in custody since being arrested shortly after the June 7, 2022 shooting on Country Lane.

“One can only imagine the shock and pain” endured by the victim, said Applegate, adding that “gun violence is a plague.”

In passing sentence, Applegate repeated key evidence in the case, that Williams approached a newer-model Mercedes on Country Lane, near Mapleview Drive East.

When the victim attempted to flee the scene by putting the Mercedes in reverse, court heard Williams chased after the vehicle on foot and fired a single shot from his Glock handgun.

Police were nearby conducting surveillance at the time and chased after Williams, who attempted to flee in a stolen vehicle with an accomplice, who was a minor.

Police apprehended a 14-year-old at a gas station at the intersection of Yonge Street and Innisfil Beach Road.

Williams was located soon after in the backyard of a nearby residence.

The 25-year-old victim survived a single gunshot wound to the shoulder after having surgery to remove the bullet.

The man was not in court, nor did he file a victim impact statement with the court.

Crown attorney Indy Kandola had asked for a 10-year sentence, while Williams’ lawyer countered with a six-year request, citing a number of mitigating factors that have adversely affected her client growing up Black in one of Toronto’s roughest neighbourhoods.

“When you’re in sentencing, you’re (trying to) humanize that person and (ensure) a sentence that is fair and correct,” Nadia Chaabane, Williams’ lawyer, said outside court, while contrasting evidentiary and sentencing factors in the case.

“That’s especially (true) when you’re dealing with really young people, there are definitely unique factors," she added. 

Having achieved a sentence closer to her request than the Crown, Chaabane said she was satisfied with the outcome.

Kandola attended the proceedings via video and was not available for comment, but he made plain his thoughts on the case in two previous sentencing hearings.

The assault was “the worse possible, short of killing someone, which (Williams) was probably lucky he didn’t do,” Kandola said in his remarks at a hearing last week.

Earlier, the veteran Crown attorney told Applegate the shooting was a “targeted and planned crime” and a case of “Toronto bringing gun violence to Barrie.”

While the issue of race and gun violence making a rare visit to Barrie’s streets were two underlying themes to the case, conditions at Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene ultimately proved an even bigger factor in passing sentence. That’s because the 32 months Williams spent in pre-sentence custody was enhanced at greater than the normal formula of 1.5 to 1.

Last week’s hearing dealt primarily with the subject and heard evidence of prolonged lockdowns and other hardships Williams endured at the superjail.

Applegate said CNCC’s conditions amounted to “shocking treatment of inmates,” in general, and accepted the evidence Williams’ lawyer presented of long stretches spent in lockdown and being triple-bunked.

As if to accentuate CNCC’s issues, Kandola was not able to secure all the information required to adequately assess Williams’ pre-sentence affidavit. The Crown conceded some pre-sentence enhancements were appropriate, but was operating with a bad hand when its request was met with administrative silence.

In the end, Applegate boosted Williams’ 32 months in pre-sentence custody to 54, leaving him 30 more left to serve on the 78-month sentence.

He will be eligible for statutory release in about nine months.

That release date may be academic as Williams faces more criminal charges starting next week in Toronto.

Chaabane declined comment on Williams' upcoming case, aside from confirming that she is not representing him in those proceedings.

With court adjourned and Applegate having departed, Chaabane’s final interaction with her client was to give him a hug before Williams was being led away in handcuffs by court security staff.