Two teens face 25 charges in death of Lecent Amos-Ross
Posted August 13, 2015 6:33 pm.
Last Updated August 14, 2015 1:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two teenagers are facing 25 charges, including manslaughter, in the shooting death of 14-year-old Lecent Amos-Ross.
An 18-year-old man and a youth were arrested and appeared in court on Thursday. The youth can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and police aren’t naming the 18-year-old to protect the youth, Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner said Friday.
Taverner would not say if the two were brothers or how they knew Ross.
Ross died after she was shot with an illegal semi-automatic handgun – a .40-calibre Smith & Wesson – at a Rexdale home on July 9, but police are not saying who they believe pulled the trigger or why.
“I believe parents should be held accountable for their kids’ actions,” Ross’s mother Alicia Jasquith said at the police news conference on Friday.
“Please, please stop the gun violence … Please, look at your kids every day and tell them that you love them. And check in their bags and know who their friends are and who they’re hanging around with every day.”
Ross’s father Charles Amos-Ross said it had been a month since his daughter was killed and two weeks since her funeral.
“It’s hard to accept … it’s almost impossible,” he said.
“She was supposed to start Grade 9 in September. She’s not going to get that opportunity. She had her whole future to look forward to.”
Amos-Ross said knowing two people had been charged brings “some happiness” and, he hopes, some answers.
The youth is charged with manslaughter, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of firearm obtained by the commission of an offence, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of a firearm knowing the serial number has been altered, defaced, or removed, careless storage of a firearm, careless storage of ammunition, weapons dangerous, giving a false statement, obstruct police, and three counts of fail to comply with Young Offenders Act disposition.
The 18-year-old is charged with criminal negligence causing death use of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of a firearm obtained by the commission of an offence, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of a firearm knowing the serial number has been altered, defaced, or removed, careless storage of a firearm, careless storage of ammunition, weapons dangerous, giving a false statement, and public mischief.
They will both appear in court on Wednesday.
