Family and friends of victim protest gun laws

Carrying signs saying “ guns kill” and “ change our laws,” grieving family members and friends of slain car salesman Sepehr “ Danny” Fatulahzadeh-Rabti filed solemnly yesterday into a provincial courthouse where two men accused in his killing appeared for a bail hearing. More than 100 people passed through the front- door security system, many also carrying photos of the victim, some taken with his fiancée, Jasmine Fernicola. But only half the mourners could find a seat in the courtroom, and they went stone silent when Marcel Blackburn and Jodie Wheatle, both 20, entered handcuffed to each other. Both are charged with seconddegree murder.

Blackburn, dressed in a hooded black sweatshirt, darted glances at the crowd and engaged in a whispered exchange with his lawyer before he was denied bail.

Wheatle, in a gray pullover, sat with a more neutral gaze focused in front of him. He was ordered to return in the afternoon and was denied bail then.

Justice of the Peace William Danbrook ordered everyone out of the courtroom who did not have a seat, including those he said were “ perched” at the end of a row. “What we’re trying to do is change the ( gun) laws as quickly as possible,” said Rez Shekarabi, the victim’s uncle and an owner of Genniva Motors, Steeles Ave. W. at Highway 400, site of Thursday’s shooting death.

“ No judge should let anybody ( charged with a gun crime) out ( on bail) again.”

Wheatle was on bail at the time of the Fatulahzadeh- Rabti killing on 10 unrelated criminal charges. He had been arrested Nov. 5 at Yorkdale Shopping Centre after a chase and was charged with carrying a loaded .45 calibre gun, assaulting a police officer and other charges. The Crown attorney’s office had asked that Wheatle be refused bail on the charges, but he was released under conditions covered by a publication ban.

Fatulahzadeh-Rabti, 25, took two bullets to the head and chest, police said. Two men arrived at the dealership looking for somebody regarding a leased vehicle. The two men were asked to leave and the shots were fired, police said.

“ This has broken me apart,” Fernicola said. “ I will never get over this.”