Life imprisonment imposed by an adult court or sentence for a teenager committed to rehabilitation? This is the question the court has to decide about the fate that awaits the young man who killed Thomas Cameron in August 2019 at Adrien-Cambron Park in Sherbrooke.
The pleadings in the verdict took place Monday at Sherbrooke courthouse. Judge Benoit Gagnon, sitting in the Youth Division of the Court of Quebec, was responsible for making this decision.
Recall that the murderer pleaded guilty to a number of second-degree murder in July 2021 at Sherbrooke courthouse. It could not be identified because he was a minor at the time of the events. Since the proceedings began, the one who is now 21 has looked at the ground without expressing even the slightest emotion throughout the day.
The criminal and prosecutor’s penal lawyer, Me Nathalie Robidoux, said Thomas Cameron was left in a pool of blood and that the murderer had fled. He also said that 62 wounds were inflicted on the victim’s body.
Me Robidoux pointed out that the evidence in the case was overwhelming and the motive for the crime was incomprehensible and disproportionate. The prosecution also argued that there was they planned to assassinate Thomas Cameron.
” The accused knew what he was doing before, during and after the murder. Thomas is a weak victim. There was a total surprise effect. Thomas went to this appointment without hesitation. The unexplained motive adds to the seriousness of the offense. […]. The attack on the victim was relentless. The accused chased the victim a few meters and even the intervention of the park warden changed nothing. “
Defense attorney Kim Dingman agreed that the event took place on Aug. 3, 2019 rise, that it was violent, but it was not planned. The accused appeared to be carrying nothing. He reacted to Thomas’s gesture of showing him his knife with impulsive gesture and guided by his emotion, he made the gestures. […]. The wires are glued together. It exploded.
He remembered that immaturity, intoxication and cognitive distortions are the root of the circumstances.
An extraordinary sentence was requested
The defense attorney remembered that The imposition of an adult sentence on a juvenile remains the exception, not the rule.
” Teenagers benefit from a lower presumption of guilt than adults. They are weaker, less mature and less capable of moral judgment. “
Me Dingman raised that the Court should question itself if the defendant’s understanding allows him to fully appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions. According to him, he had no intention of hurting Thomas.
Also, according to the defense, the seriousness of the crime committed should not go blind in court.
For his part, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney is concerned about the murderer’s social maladjustment and the risk of recidivism.
” It has a minimalist function as a rehabilitation center linked to privileges. He invested very little. We are far from rehabilitation. There is much more to do. Specific punishment is not enough because it is limited in time. Only one adult sentence is needed. “
Family effects
The prosecution also recalled that the crime was the victim of other collateral: the grandfather, the uncle, the grandmother and the mother of Thomas Cameron. She mentioned that she would always have an after-effect, that her son would not die a good painless death. He died at the hands of a man.
The impact for Thomas ’family is huge: you have to consider it. In the pain they feel, it should not be blind, divert the court from the purposes of the law. Thomas’s passing would have been less important if he had no family to mourn him directed by the defense attorney.
Sentence submissions will end Tuesday at Sherbrooke courthouse.
Source: Radio-Canada
