Man who shot pregnant ex-girlfriend not guilty of attempted murder: B.C. judge
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2019 01:19:48 +0000
In a strange twist to a tragic case, a man a judge concluded had shot two people, including his pregnant former girlfriend, has been found not guilty of attempted murder.
After Carleton Stevens shot his ex-girlfriend, who can only be identified by the initials J.Y. due to a publication ban, the victim, who was 6-1/2-months’ pregnant, was taken to hospital and, despite emergency surgery, lost her unborn child that was also his child.
The incident happened after the couple had broken up with one another two weeks before the May 2018 shooting, with Stevens threatening to kill her and Taj Lovett, a friend of hers, numerous times.
Stevens knew Lovett and the messages exchanged between them reflected the fact that they had a close relationship that was damaged in the accused’s mind when Lovett provided shelter for J.Y. in the loft of the East Van Graphics print shop where he worked, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan said in her verdict Wednesday.
Stevens, who pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder J.Y., was angry at both Lovett and J.Y., and vacillated between denying he was the father of J.Y.’s baby and wanting his family back, said the judge.
The accused also believed that Lovett was having sex with J.Y., which Lovett denied, and soon before the shooting J.Y. texted the accused and expressed anger at the way he had treated her and asked that he return some of her ID documents in his possession, said Duncan.
The Crown’s theory was that in the early morning of May 18, 2018, Stevens, armed with a firearm and wearing gloves, entered the shop where J.Y. was staying with Lovett and shot her, carrying out his earlier threats to kill her. J.Y. testified that she woke up from a deep sleep to discover Stephens in the loft and carrying a gun. She said she got up to leave and then was shot and that the shooting incident was followed by a struggle involving the accused and Lovett.
Police investigate a shooting in a home on Industrial Avenue in Vancouver on May 18, 2018.
But other witnesses testified that the struggle preceded the shooting, which the judge found was critical in her analysis of the evidence.
Duncan concluded that Stevens and another man, who has only been identified as Person X, entered the print shop and went up to the loft. Stevens was wearing gloves, not because his hands were cold in the middle of May, but because he was preparing to enter the building and confront Lovett or J.Y. or both, said the judge.
The judge found that there was a struggle of some sort between Stevens and Lovett, and the accused discharged the firearm at or in the direction of Lovett with the bullet travelling through Lovett’s right arm and then hitting J.Y., who was either on the bed or getting up to leave the loft.
“In a case like this, where a pregnant woman was shot and lost her unborn child, feelings of revulsion or sympathy must not overwhelm the necessary legal analysis,” said the judge. “While there was evidence the accused was angry at J.Y. and made threats against her in the weeks leading up to the shooting, I cannot be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to shoot her. My doubt arises from the fact that one shell casing was found in the loft, indicating that one shot was fired.”
The accused made threats against Lovett, as well as J.Y., and it’s a reasonable scenario that Lovett, not J.Y., was the intended target, said the judge.
Police investigate a shooting in Vancouver on May 18, 2018.
While there was no doubt Stevens, who was 37 a the time of the shooting, uttered threats and used a firearm in a way that contravenes many sections of the Criminal Code, the single count before the court required proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he shot J.Y. with intent to kill, said Duncan.
No charges were laid in connection with the shooting of Lovett after he did not provide a statement to police. He did not testify at trial either.
Stevens has an outstanding matter — breaching a firearms possession ban that was imposed after a prior criminal conviction — but that charge was laid on a separate indictment and will be dealt with at a later date.
Outside court, defence lawyer Chandra Corriveau noted that the circumstances of the case were “incredibly tragic” for everyone who was involved and the court rightly concluded that the gun discharged during the course of a struggle.
“That discharge resulted in the complainant losing her baby, which was notably also the accused’s baby and as a result of those circumstances and finding of fact, (the judge) is not able to conclude that he had the requisite intent for attempted murder,” Corriveau said.