Man who pleaded guilty to helping hit man gunned down

36-year-old killed in Montreal North was granted release before sentencing

A man who was supposed to be sentenced this coming Friday, for helping hit man Frédérick Silva when he went into hiding after committing a murder in Notredame-de-grâce, was fatally shot in Montreal North Wednesday afternoon.

Police sources confirmed to the Montreal Gazette that the man who was fatally shot, sometime around 4:25 p.m., was 36-yearold Sébastien Giroux. He was a known associate of Silva's and, on March 15, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Daniel Armando Somoza-gildea, a Concordia University student who was killed by Silva on May 24, 2017, after they argued inside Cabaret Les Amazones in N.D.G.

Silva entered a no contest plea to the second-degree murder charge last week. The plea is part of a strategy that will allow him to appeal the murder case.

Giroux was at the strip bar with Silva when the victim was killed. While police were trying to track Silva down, they realized that Giroux was helping him hide.

When Giroux pleaded guilty to the charge in March, lawyers on both sides of the case made a joint recommendation that he be sentenced to a three-year prison term. The lawyers also made an unusual request that Giroux be released from detention before he was scheduled to be sentenced this Friday.

“Because of a particular situation and for family reasons we will ask you to delay your decision on the sentence until May 13,” Nathalie Kléber told Superior Court Justice Marc David in March. “It will allow him to settle certain affairs.”

One thing Giroux planned to tend to, Kléber said, involved a move from one location to another.

When he was arrested last year, Giroux resided in a downtown apartment building near Saint James United Church.

Giroux was granted the conditional release with an order that he not associate with any known criminals except for three men. Two of the exceptions were Emmanuel Zephir, 49, a notorious street gang leader, and his 45-year-old brother Jean-ismael Zephir.

According to the Montreal police, someone called 911 Wednesday afternoon to report that shots were fired at the intersection of Sheeley Ave. and Crémazie Blvd. E.

When police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a victim, a man, who had been shot. Unfortunately, he was declared dead at the scene.

“When police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a victim, a man, who had been shot. Unfortunately, he was declared dead at the scene,” Montreal police spokesperson Mariane Allaire Morin said.

The suspect or suspects fled the scene and no one had been arrested as of early Wednesday evening.

The homicide was the ninth reported in Montreal so far this year. There were eight homicides reported during the corresponding period last year.