Just one more day in jail. What a bitter pill to swallow.
The judge herself admitted one of them is likely the shooter of a young teen – but along with his twin brother, he’s getting off on manslaughter just the same.
In 2019, identical twins Lenneil Shaw and Shakiyl Shaw were sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years for the brazen execution of Jarryl “BJ” Hagley, 17, while he was eating at Pizza Pizza on Weston Rd. near Lawrence Ave. W.
But last year, Ontario’s highest court ordered a new trial for the pair after finding the judge had made several errors.
On Friday, the reluctant prosecutors admitted that winning convictions again for first-degree murder would be incredibly difficult, so they have agreed to allow the 31-year-old brothers to plead guilty to manslaughter and be sentenced to 10 years – the equivalent of time served, plus one more day in custody.
The uncontrollable sobs of Hagley’s relatives filled the downtown courtroom as Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly accepted the joint submission with acknowledgment of how painful it is: “Mr. Hagley’s death was senseless. The circumstances giving rise to his death are terrible. The guilty plea before the court today leaves unanswered some important questions, like, ‘Who killed Mr. Hagley and why?’”
Hagley was having pizza with friends in the early morning hours of Oct. 16, 2016, when two hooded gunmen stormed into the shop – one with a shotgun, the other with a 9mm handgun. Struck by several shotgun blasts to his heart and chest, the teen managed to flee to the washroom before collapsing. He died later in hospital.
The Crown’s star witness against the Shaw brothers was Winston Poyser, who testified Shakiyl was the getaway driver and Lenneil fired the shotgun. A third man, accused of being the second shooter, was acquitted on appeal.
Court heard Poyser, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to 27 months, had consumed two bottles of vodka that night as well as MDMA and had trouble telling the twins apart at the first trial.
The judge said prosecutors were facing an “extremely problematic” case if they went to a retrial.
“The identity of the shooters remains a significant hurdle for the Crown,” Kelly said. “The Shaw Brothers were willing to admit, by way of their guilty plea, that they were in the vehicle that drove to the Pizza Pizza, that they knew the guns were in the car, that the gunmen were going to Pizza Pizza to use the guns, and that they drove away from the scene knowing a shooting had taken place which endangered the life and safety of the people inside the Pizza Pizza.
“As the Crown has submitted, one of the brothers is very likely the shooter. However, proof of the shooter lies in the evidence of Mr. Winston Poyser, who suffers from several reliability issues that will not improve with time, especially during a second trial. Additionally, witnesses who testified at the first trial could not say much about the identity of the three men.”
Understandably, the distraught family decided not to give new victim impact statements, so Kelly referred to their original submissions.
Jarryl’s mom, Delma Hagley, began to weep as Kelly summarized the grieving mother’s enduring pain.
“She lives every day hearing her son’s voice in her head telling her his dreams and his goals and how much he wanted to pursue them. Without him being here to share those dreams with her again, it shatters her heart on a daily basis.”
Even though she has felt his last hug and laid him to rest, the judge continued, his mom can’t believe he’s gone and sometimes still listens for his voice.
And now to see one of his killers – whichever twin he may be – not held truly accountable? How cruel that must be.