EXCLUSIVE: Father says teen son wasn’t guilty of 1st-degree murder in Const. Styles death
Posted June 19, 2015 6:46 pm.
Last Updated June 20, 2015 1:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The father of a teen found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 death of York Regional Police Const. Garrett Styles spoke exclusively to CityNews on Friday, saying his son shouldn’t have been found guilty of first-degree murder.
“Absolutely no for first-degree murder,” the rattled dad, who can’t be named to protect his son’s identity, told CityNews.
He said manslaughter would have been a more appropriate conviction.
On June 28, 2011, Styles was standing beside a minivan during a routine traffic stop in East Gwillimbury when police say the vehicle suddenly accelerated and dragged him about 300 metres before losing control and rolling on top of him. The teen was behind the wheel at the time.
Styles, who was 32 and a father and husband, died on the way to hospital.
The convicted teen was just 15 at the time and was left a quadriplegic after the incident.
His father says his helpless condition is his true punishment, saying he now has no bladder or bowel control.
“He’s lost his independence,” he said. “He’s just only breathing. Nothing but breathing. He is actually punished more than we can think of.”
If sentenced as a young offender the teen faces 10 years in prison. But if he’s sentenced as an adult he faces life.
His father can’t fathom the latter.
“I don’t want to think about that. I’m not ready to think about that.”
“I don’t want to lose my son,” he lamented, calling the incident a ‘joyride’ gone horribly wrong.
Styles’ family hasn’t spoken publicly, but released a statement after the verdict, saying: “We are pleased with the outcome in this trial. This serves as a reminder to all that there are consequences to the choices you make.”
