Put killer away for 30 years, Crown argues
Defence lawyer suggests 12 years for shooter in Spadina double slaying
Kyle Sparks MacKinnon should serve at least 30 years before he can apply for parole for murdering two men in a Spadina Ave. shooting that a witness said began after one of the victims’ friends asked for directions to an after-hours club, Crown prosecutors argued Wednesday.
David Eminess, 26, and Quinn Taylor, 29, were both killed in the 2016 shooting and three other men were injured.
Sparks MacKinnon faces an automatic life sentence but a judge must decide how long he must wait before he can apply for parole.
His lawyer Sid Freeman argued her client, now 29, should not face consecutive periods of parole ineligibility for the two murders, but should rather be sentenced to a total of 12 years before he can seek release on parole. Should he be sentenced consecutively, she said, he should face a total of 20 years — the minimum of 10 years each on both counts.
The Crown is seeking two consecutive periods of 15 years of parole ineligibility. In her submissions, prosecutor Kerry Hughes said Eminess and Taylor were brutally murdered in the “carnage” after their friend who asked for directions was shot in the head. She argued they were killed because they were potential witnesses and noted that Sparks MacKinnon has shown no remorse for the shooting. Sparks MacKinnon’s previous criminal record included a violent unprovoked assault on a man after a fenderbender, she added.
Freeman said there was not enough credible evidence to know why Eminess and Taylor were killed. In her submissions, she described Sparks MacKinnon’s difficult family history and childhood including alcoholism, abuse and dysfunction.
According to his family, Sparks MacKinnon’s greatgrandmother eight times removed on his mother’s side was Mi’kmaq, she said. While Sparks MacKinnon was not exposed to Indigenous culture while he was growing up, he and his family have experienced intergenerational trauma, she said. Freeman said Sparks MacKinnon’s maternal grandmother and mother were both sex workers and drug users. His mother, who grew up in foster homes and group homes in Nova Scotia, experienced abuse throughout her life from a young age.
Sparks MacKinnon was raised by other family members including his father and paternal grandmother, but became involved with a “bad crowd” at 15, after dropping out of high school despite attaining decent grades.
His mother, who attended the trial but lives in Nova Scotia, is now in a wheelchair after a severe stroke left her partially paralyzed.
Like the men he murdered, Sparks MacKinnon is a father to a young child, court heard. Sparks MacKinnon declined to address the court when given the opportunity at the end of the sentencing hearing.
His half-brother Jamal Richardson had also been charged in the shooting but was acquitted by the jury in January. Richardson, an alleged gang leader, remains in custody facing other charges.
A sentencing decision is expected June 10.