Teen guilty of manslaughter in Mac’s store robberies

A 16-year-old boy was found not guilty of first-degree murder Friday in the death of a Mac’s store employee close to three years ago, but he will be sentenced next month on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The youth, who was 13 at the time and whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was part of a trio involved in a crime spree targeting Mac’s stores that left two convenience store workers dead.

A jury convicted one of the adults accused in the killings, Laylin Delorme, of two counts of first-degree murder in June. The other adult suspect, Colten Steinhauer, has yet to go to trial.

Karanpal Singh Bhangu and Ricky Massin Cenabre both died of gunshot wounds following the Dec. 18, 2015, armed robberies at two separate south-side stores — one in Mill Woods at 3208 82 St. and one at 10845 61 Ave.

The teen admitted to manslaughter in the death of Bhangu but pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Cenabre.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts each of committing a robbery with a prohibited or restricted weapon, and two counts of committing an offence while masked.

In handing down her sentence, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley said the Crown failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the teen “shared a common intention to enter that store and commit or participate in the commission of murder.”

Shelley said the actions of the youth were not the “substantial cause” of Cenabre’s death, adding that since the co-accused were significantly older — Delorme was 22 and Steinhauer was 27 at the time of the armed robberies — “common sense and experience suggests” that the youth’s role in planning the robberies was “unlikely to be equal to that of the two adults.”

Although there is “no doubt” the youth actively participated in the robberies, unlike Steinhauer and Delorme the youth was not carrying a weapon, Shelley said.

She said the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the youth had the “subjective foresight that death was likely to have occurred during the second robbery.”

Sentencing is set for Dec. 7.