All charges 'regretfully' withdrawn by Crown in deadly shooting of Toronto boy
· Toronto Sun
See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
Visit newssport.cv for more information.
The suspects in the unprovoked fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jahkai Jack have had all their charges withdrawn after the Crown said there was “no reasonable prospect” of conviction.
Abdul Yeberebaba was facing a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death last year of the Mount Dennis teen, and Jayden Samuel-James and Rajveer Gill were facing charges of accessory after the fact.
Crown attorney David Newton delivered a similar statement as he asked Ontario Court Justice Rick Libman to withdraw the charges against each of the young men, adding it was a “difficult” decision.
“The Crown has an obligation at all stages of a prosecution to continually assess both public interest in a prosecution and its prospect of conviction. And of course, where that prospect of conviction is less than reasonable, the Crown has an obligation to end that prosecution,” Newton began.
He said Toronto Police did a thorough investigation, including the examination of a very significant amount of CCTV footage of the area and the circumstances surrounding the underlying homicide, both before and after the incident.
“However, upon careful consideration of all the available evidence in the case, including a consideration of what evidence there might still be to come, and while there is an obvious public interest in proceeding with this case, and while the Crown believes there was a reasonable basis on which to charge (the three) with these offences, the Crown unfortunately concludes that it lacks a reasonable prospect of conviction.”
He told the court it wasn’t a decision made lightly.
“The victim of the homicide is a young person, but the Crown must regretfully do what it must do here,” Newton said.
No further details were provided.
Jack was gunned down just after 10 p.m. on June 7, 2025 in a west-end residential neighbourhood near Weston Rd. and Jane St.
“He was not involved in any gangs or any kind of criminality,” Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Phillip Campbell told reporters last summer. “This was a completely unprovoked act of violence.”
Nine months later, the alleged gunman was arrested in Calgary, Gill was picked up in British Columbia and James in the GTA.