Maximum sentence sought in murder of TSN producer

The Crown is seeking the maximum parole ineligibility period of 25 years for the 18-year-old man who murdered TSN producer Jonathan Gayle-West, a total stranger.

Salman Ahmed, now 22, was found guilty of second-degree murder along with Samir Adem by a jury earlier this year. He faces a mandatory life sentence and the only issue to be determined is when he can first apply for parole. There is no guarantee that he would ever be paroled. Adem, who was18 at the time of the murder, died in custody earlier this year.

In a fiercely contentious sentencing hearing this week, prosecutors Michael Townsend and Paul Zambonini argue that Ahmed and Adem effectively committed a firstdegree murder because it involved forcible confinement on Dec. 12, 2018, when the two men held Gayle-West, 29, at gunpoint in his Honda Civic in order to steal his car.

Gayle-West, a talented sports broadcaster beloved by his family, was shot three times in the torso, including one through his heart.

The Crown says Superior Court Justice Kelly Byrne should believe the evidence of Adil Zeno, a man who was the target of an unrelated undercover “Mr. Big” police operation. Zeno told two undercover officers Ahmed and Adem bragged to him about a carjacking, that GayleWest resisted and they shot him.

They also argue that first-degree murder was wrongly taken off the table by the preliminary inquiry judge, an assessment agreed to by higher courts but which could not be altered because the Court of Appeal concluded there was no legal error to overturn.

Ahmed’s lawyers, Ariel Herscovitch and Ashley Audet, are seeking a parole ineligibility period of 12 years, slightly higher than the minimum of ten years, arguing that the forensic evidence shows Ahmed was not the person who shot GayleWest, that there is no evidence that he had a gun, and that Zeno is a known pathological liar whose account cannot be trusted.

Ahmed also has no criminal record and faced a difficult life growing up as a Black boy in Toronto, they argue. He lived with his parents and four brothers in Toronto Community Housing building where he was exposed to crime and negative influences, including the murder of his neighbour in the building lobby and a friend who was shot dead opposite an elementary school, his lawyers said in their factum filed with the court. His family attended court throughout the trial, as did Gayle-West’s.

The Crown’s extreme position is “unbelievable” with no case law to support it, they argue. Instead, the Crown is seeking to sentence Ahmed for an offence he was not actually convicted of by the jury. They note four jurors recommended a parole ineligibility period of 10 years, the remaining seven made no recommendation.

In the sentencing hearing, the Crown took the unusual step of investigating letters of support filed on Ahmed’s behalf and cross-examined two people who knew Ahmed growing up as a decent boy. Over defence objections that the questioning is irrelevant given the murder conviction, the Crown played the pair a video of Ahmed and others holding a gun and appearing to smoke marijuana and asked if that changed their opinion. One said she was shocked because it did not accord with how she knew him. The other said this is the behaviour of teenagers and they can’t be judged.

A trial judge in Oshawa acquitted Ahmed and the other men of possession of a firearm in 2018 because there was no proof of when the video was made.

The sentencing hearing resumes in January.