One of the gunmen convicted in the infamous 2005 crossfire killing of 15-year-old Jane Creba in Toronto has been sentenced to another 11 years in prison for a shooting in Vanier in 2022.
Tyshaun Barnett, 37, was found guilty in April of aggravated assault and firearms offences after firing four non-fatal shots into a man’s legs in an incident described by Crown prosecutors as a “revenge” shooting.
Barnett was also found guilty of discharging the firearm with intent to wound, maim, disfigure or endanger life, possessing a restricted handgun and possessing the loaded gun while under a prior weapons prohibition order.
Barnett was 18 at the time of the 2005 Boxing Day shooting in which six people were injured and Creba was killed when gunfire erupted between two rival gangs on Yonge Street near the Eaton Centre.
Barnett was one of four people found guilty in Creba’s death.
Jorrell-Simpson Rowe and Jeremiah Valentine were convicted of second-degree murder and were each handed life sentences. The fatal bullet that struck and killed Creba was fired from Valentine’s gun, investigators determined. Louis Woodcock and Barnett were convicted of manslaughter and each received a 12-year sentence in 2010.
Barnett had been in Ottawa for about two years at the time of the 2022 shooting and was living in a low-rise apartment on Granville Street when a heated argument with a group of noisy neighbours escalated to gunfire.
The confrontation turned physical as Barnett engaged with one of the neighbours in the building’s back stairwell and gunshots rang out from the second-floor apartment.
Jason Urbina, a Toronto man who had been staying at the second-floor apartment, pulled out a handgun and fired two shots in Barnett’s direction, but missed.
Later that morning, Barnett found Urbina in an apartment on Jeanne Mance Street, where he broke the front door off its hinges, stormed in and fired four shots into Urbina’s legs.
Barnett was found guilty by a jury on all four counts on April 5.
Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips imposed the 11-year sentence on Aug. 29, along with a weapons prohibition and DNA order.
Assistant Crown Attorney Matthew Geigen-Miller had called for a 15-year sentence, arguing the shooting was not an impulsive decision and involved planning and tracking down the victim.
Barnett’s defence lawyer, Marco Sciarra, had argued for an eight-year sentence.
Barnett was also sentenced to 12 months, to be served concurrently to the 11-year sentence, after pleading guilty to possessing one ounce of cocaine, which was seized from his apartment following his arrest.
The jury at his trial did not hear any details about the cocaine charge and were unaware of Barnett’s criminal history. No details were mentioned of his involvement in the death of Creba, which is customary procedure in criminal trials involving a jury.
The jury was likewise unaware that Barnett was already serving a sentence for drug offences when he stood trial for the Vanier shooting. He pleaded guilty to three drug-related charges in July 2022 and was sentenced to three years.
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