Content of the article

All three men on trial in a case in which they were accused of three murders committed in Rivière-des-Prairies three years ago were found guilty by a jury on Wednesday.

Content of the article

After deliberating for several days, the Montreal jury found all three men guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and one count of discharging a firearms with intent to cause bodily harm.

Content of the article

The jury foreman took time to repeat each charge which was read to him in full by a clerk before saying “guilty” to all the charges the trio face. The men convicted in this case are Jonas Castor, 26, Stevenson Choute, 23, and Clifford Domerçant-Barosy, 29.

The men who were killed in the drive-by shooting on the evening of August 2, 2021 were Jerry Willer Jean-Baptiste, 29, Jafferson (Soldier) Syla, 29, and Molière Dantes, 63.

When the trial opened, the Crown said the shooting victims were gathered inside and outside an apartment on Perras Blvd. to celebrate a birthday when two cars sped past. Shots were fired from both vehicles. The shooting from the road was recorded by a surveillance camera outside the block.

One of the drivers testified as a prosecution witness in the trial. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence for his role in what happened.

Domerçant-Barosy testified in his own defense and maintained that he did not go to the apartment with the intention of killing anyone. He said someone he sold cannabis to asked him to scare the people in the apartment and that he opened fire when he heard shots fired at him. Apparently the jury didn’t believe a word of it.

The jury also heard evidence that the three men on trial carried out the drive-by shooting in revenge for the death of a street gang member who was killed in Montreal months earlier.

Superior Court Judge Alexandre Boucher agreed to hear sentencing arguments in January. While the three men received automatic life sentences for their first-degree murder convictions — with no chance of parole until they served 25 years behind bars — they must be sentenced for the other crimes they were convicted of.

This story will be updated.

[email protected]

Share this article on your social network