Mother of four offers to house Dorval youth

Boy who shot own brother awaits sentencing

A mother of four has offered to take a Dorval boy who fatally shot his brother into her home until a judge determines his sentence.

The boy, who pleaded guilty this month to criminal negligence causing death, has been detained in Batshaw Youth and Family Centres since his arrest. He was 12 at the time of the January incident, which took place in the family home.

But Crown prosecutor Marie-Claude Bourassa argued Wednesday that the boy should not be released because he still poses a risk to public safety.

To back up her argument, she referred to 8,112 transactions on the boy’s cellphone between Dec. 5, 2012 and Jan. 22, 2013, the day after the shooting.

“It was a whole way of life at that period of time of going out late at night, taking drugs and taking the car,” Bourassa told Quebec Youth Court.

The boy also broke into his grandmother’s home while she was on vacation and his palm print was found in a closet where the grandfather’s guns were stored. He texted his friends and told them that he had his grandmother’s car and the keys for it.

Defence lawyer Isabel Schurman told court the boy’s mother and grandmother are prepared to house and supervise the boy, but failing that, the mother of four, who is married to a relative of the family, would take him.

Schurman said if the boy stays with his mother, he can be home schooled and con- tinue to see a psychologist he is seeing while at Batshaw. The boy’s father, who has been divorced from the mother for seven years, has visiting rights on Sundays.

The alternative is the boy’s relative, who testified Wednesday that she is stricter with her four children than the boy may be used to.

“I always know where my children are,” said the woman, who can’t be identified in order to protect the boy’s identity. “I came forward because they are a good family and sometimes bad things happen to good people and I want to help.”

Under cross-examination, the woman said her 13-yearold son used to be close to the boy, who is also now 13, but

“Sometimes bad things happen to good people and I

want to help.” WOMAN VOLUNTEERING TO CARE FOR DORVAL BOY WHO SHOT HIS BROTHER

that they haven’t seen each other since starting high school.

The boy shot his 16-year-old brother in the head with their grandfather’s 9-millimetre Beretta, but both the Crown and defence agree he never intended to injure his brother, with whom he had a close relationship.

The boy has also pleaded guilty to shoplifting and armed robbery in connection with a holdup at an Ultramar station close to his home just days before the shooting.

He faces a maximum three years in a youth detention centre, but the eight months he has already served would be deducted from his sentence.

The lawyers will sum up their cases for and against bail on Thursday afternoon.