{"id":823357,"date":"2025-01-31T10:14:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/31\/crown-seeks-lengthy-prison-term-for-barrie-shooter-attempted-carjacker\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T10:14:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:14:04","slug":"crown-seeks-lengthy-prison-term-for-barrie-shooter-attempted-carjacker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/31\/crown-seeks-lengthy-prison-term-for-barrie-shooter-attempted-carjacker\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown seeks lengthy prison term for Barrie shooter, attempted carjacker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Williams, now 20, has pleaded guilty to 2022 shooting on Country Lane in city’s south end; victim shot once while sitting in luxury sedan<\/p>\n

\n

During Thursday’s\u00a0sentencing hearing\u00a0for a string of robbery and weapons charges related to a south-end Barrie shooting and attempted carjacking, the lawyer for Michael Williams\u00a0insisted in a local courtroom that her client is a quiet\u00a0introvert.<\/p>\n

But Nadia Chaabane\u2019s description of her client belied the violence he unleashed when he shot a 25-year-old Barrie man on Country Lane on a\u00a0clear, spring day on June 7, 2022, near Mapleview Drive East.<\/p>\n

Williams has pleaded guilty\u00a0and the Crown is seeking a 10-year prison\u00a0sentence.<\/p>\n

Chaabane has countered with a request of six years for her 20-year-old client, who was 18 at the time of the shooting.<\/p>\n

In her submissions, Chaabane cited a rough family background, growing up in poverty in one of Toronto\u2019s most troubled neighbourhoods, where his lawyer said he witnessed a close friend being shot to death when he was 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn (custody), he has (come to realize) \u2018I\u2019m not like other people in here,’\u201d\u00a0Chaabane said.<\/p>\n

Williams’\u00a0crimes are also unlike most that come before the court. Gun violence is still relatively rare in Barrie, and it’s even more uncommon for a shooting involving such a young defendant in an upscale neighbourhood where it took place.<\/p>\n

Crown attorney Indy Kandola made that argument before Ontario Court\u00a0Justice Cecile Applegate.<\/p>\n

“In broad daylight, in a peaceful neighbourhood, (Williams) sits and waits for his target, approaches him and shoots him,”\u00a0Kandola told the court.<\/p>\n

At the time, Williams was on probation and subject to a weapons ban.<\/p>\n

According to Kandola\u2019s submissions to the court, Williams was armed with a loaded Glock and fired a single shot into the victim, who was sitting in his luxury sedan.<\/p>\n

Though the Crown offered no background regarding\u00a0motive on Thursday, police said at the time that Williams and a 14-year-old boy were trying to steal the victim\u2019s car<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to police, the victim escaped and managed to drive himself to a nearby plaza where first-responders treated him. He was then treated at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) and transferred to a Toronto trauma centre. The man\u00a0survived without lasting injuries.<\/p>\n

Neither the victim\u00a0nor any Williams supporters\u00a0were in court on Thursday, which is rare for a proceeding for such a serious crime. The lone person in the body of the court was a reporter.<\/p>\n

Kandola gave a short \u2013 as far as most sentencing submissions go \u2013 but impassioned plea for Williams\u2019 sentence to exceed the mandatory minimum of seven years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt cannot be overstated that he had just been sentenced (for a previous crime),\u201d Kandola told court.<\/p>\n

In her submissions, Chaabane also made the case of the unique negative circumstances young Black men (Williams is Black) face and should be considered, in line with recent case law in passing sentences.<\/p>\n

Kandola acknowledged those facts, but was otherwise unconvinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course (issues regarding race) should be considered, but (other factors) trump,” Kandola said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Williams is also facing other charges in Toronto. His trial begins Feb.\u00a010 and is expected to last three weeks.<\/p>\n

A combination of those unresolved legal issues in Toronto and other scheduling factors in Barrie\u00a0meant sentencing was put over until Jan 28.<\/p>\n

Williams, who is being held at Central North Correctional Centre\u00a0in Penetanguishene, returns to Barrie court at that time, when it’s expected how much enhanced credit for pre-trial custody and other procedural matters will be discussed.<\/p>\n

Applegate did not confirm when she will formally pass sentence, but\u00a0it could happen\u00a0the same day.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Rubi Ramage
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Williams, now 20, has pleaded guilty to 2022 shooting on Country Lane in city’s south end; victim shot once while sitting in luxury sedan During Thursday’s\u00a0sentencing hearing\u00a0for a string of robbery and weapons charges related to a south-end Barrie shooting and attempted carjacking, the lawyer for Michael Williams\u00a0insisted in a local courtroom that her<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":823358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4266,1720],"tags":[8753,10097],"class_list":{"0":"post-823357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crown","9":"tag-crown","10":"tag-seeks"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}