Guilty teen may face adult sentence
Boy attacked, killed his foster parent with a baseball bat
The Crown will be seeking an adult sentence for a teenager who attacked and killed his foster parent, a Niagara Falls father of three, with a baseball bat.
The youth, then 17, was originally charged with aggravated assault after the Jan. 29, 2019, assault.
The charge was upgraded to second-degree murder Feb.1after 52-year-old
Tony Paonessa was taken off life-support.
The teen, now 19, pleaded guilty to that offence in
Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Wednesday.
The Crown plans to file an application requesting the teen, who cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, be sentenced as an adult.
Under the act, the teen faces a maximum sentence of seven years — four years in custody and three years of community supervision.
If he is sentenced as an adult, the maximum sentence increases to life in prison with parole eligibility after seven years.
Judge Cameron Watson described the facts of the case as “quite disturbing.”
He adjourned sentencing un
til January 2021 so that a presentence report can be completed and the youth can undergo a psychological assessment.
Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Brown said the victim, who was employed as a city bus driver, was well known in Niagara Falls as he had previously operated a water business.
“He was actively involved with his church community and was well regarded by those who knew him,” he said.
Court heard the victim’s family had opened their home to numerous foster children over the years and had hosted international students.
The defendant had lived with the family in their north-end home for about four years.
The Crown said the relationship between the defendant and the victim had been strained for some months prior to the assault.
During a “heated verbal exchange,” on Jan. 29, Brown said, the victim told the teen he was going to take steps to have him removed from the home and placed in another foster home.
He then went into the family room to watch a movie.
As he bent over to put the TV remote on a table, court was told, the teenager entered the room armed with a baseball bat.
“He came up behind him and, without warning, the defendant swung the bat at the victim’s head,” Brown said.
Paonessa’s daughter, who witnessed the attack, told police the youth stood over her unconscious father, called him a “bitch,” and ran out of the house with the bat. He turned himself in to police later that day.
Brown said the teen was cooperative with police. He expressed remorse and told detectives he “prayed Tony didn’t die, but at the end of the day he had to be held accountable.”