Teen sentenced to three year maximum in Lecent Ross’ death

Bound by a three year maximum for youth, the judge handing down a sentence to a teenage boy responsible for the death of 14-year-old Lecent Ross told the court “I don’t know if that is enough, but I suspect it won’t be.”

The now 15-year-old was sentenced to six months open custody and 348 days of probation – exactly what the Crown recommended. The sentence amounts to a maximum of three years including time served in pre-trial custody.

“I’ve lost the ability to be the person I was,” Ross’ mother, Alicia Jesquith, told the court ahead of the sentencing through her victim impact statement.

The 14-year-old girl was fatally shot in a Jamestown home in 2015.

A lawyer for the boy said the shooting was unintentional.

“Around nine or 10 in the morning, she spoke with my client’s mother, then she went up to my client’s bedroom and everything was normal,” John Erickson told the media in the minutes leading up to his client’s sentencing.

“There was some evidence heard that there was some laughing in the bedroom and then, at a point in time, when the two of them were alone, there was a gunshot.”

Erickson said his client was showing Ross the gun and tried to move past her in the bedroom when the gun went off.

The boy initially faced a manslaughter charge but was convicted of criminal negligence causing death in November 2016.

Erickson said the teen got the gun for “protection” after returning to live in Jamestown – claiming regular violence in the area had sparked fear in the boy.

The boy had previous criminal convictions for robbery and assault causing bodily harm. The same judge who sentenced him on those charges resided over the Ross sentencing.

“The loss of my daughter has had a huge impact on my life,” Jesquith’s victim impact statement read.

“Every day I am filled with sadness, anger, grief, and many other overwhelming emotions. I have lost the ability to be the person I was when she was here.”

Jesquith, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in September, said the stress of her daughter’s death has aggravated her condition.

“Lecent was not only my daughter she was my friend. We supported each other. Without her our house is now a quiet and sad place,” she explained.

The shooting has taken a toll on the whole family.

Jesquith said Ross’ little brother and sister would lock themselves in their rooms and cry for her to come back.

“This year for Christmas they prayed and asked God if they could have their sister back and for their mom to get better,” she said. “I am the only one left having to explain to them that she cannot come back to us.”

“Our family is no longer complete without her.”

Standing in front of Ross’ family, the teen expressed his regrets.

“I regret what happened. I wish it didn’t happen,” he told the court. “I understand that it’s my fault. There’s nothing I can do to make you feel better.”

Probation conditions for the teen will include him staying away from the Jamestown area bounded by Steeles, Rexdale, Islington and Highway 427

On Thursday, Jesquith told CityNews she was outraged and disappointed could serve such a short amount of time.

“It’s just a big disappointment to us at this point,” she said in a phone interview ahead of Friday’s hearing. “We never got no justice.”

“I’m very sad at the moment, I can’t believe this,” she added. “You go out and kill someone and you get three years?”

A second male, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, was also charged with criminal negligence causing death. Police said he plead to the lesser charge of obstruct police and was sentenced to one year probation. His name can’t be revealed to protect the identity of the younger teen.

CityNews reporter Tammie Sutherland was inside the courthouse with the details as they unfolded.