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A teen hired by adults to kill a tow truck driver in 2024 was sentenced to seven years and nine months on Friday for first-degree murder.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell sentenced the now 18-year-old, who was 16 at the time, in the shooting death of Sulakshan Selvasingam, 28. The teen’s identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Selvasingam, of Pickering, Ont., was shot on July 6, 2024 at a Scarborough gas station.
Forestell told court that the teen “intentionally, deliberately and callously” murdered Selvasingam for money. She said the teen’s crime has had a “profound and devastating” impact on the victim’s family.
“Sulakshan Selvasingam was a kind and thoughtful person who cared for his family and who was deeply loved by them and by his community,” Forestell said in her reasons for the sentence.
“The grief suffered by his family is deep and long-lasting. There is no sentence that can compensate them for this loss or relieve their pain.”
The youth sentence is in addition to the two years and three months that the 18-year-old has been in custody.
Forestell said the teen will serve a continuous period of intensive rehabilitative custody for 30 months of the sentence and conditional community supervision for the remaining 63 months.
Teen shot tow truck driver 9 times
Court heard the teen shot the tow truck driver nine times, including in the head, on the instruction of an adult. A passenger in the vehicle barely survived after crouching down in the passenger seat to avoid the bullets.
In June, the teen pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and 13 counts of reckless discharge of a firearm. The same adults who recruited the teen to kill Selvasingam also recruited the teen to shoot at “targeted” businesses, court heard.
The teen and two other youths shot at businesses, including a towing company, cinemas and a jewellery store, between May and July 2024. No one was injured, but Forestell said members of the public were put a great risk.
“Random and reckless shootings undermine the sense of safety that every person should have when peacefully walking in their city,” Forestell said in her reasons.
For each offence of reckless discharge of a firearm, Forestell sentenced the teen to custody and supervision for two years, with 16 months in custody and eight months under community supervision.
The sentences for 13 counts of reckless discharge of a firearm will be served concurrently.
Sentence reflect harsh conditions in detention: judge
Given that the teen suffers from a mental illness or psychological disorder, Forestell said an intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision sentence is appropriate because it provides “enhanced rehabilitative programming for youth with serious mental health issues who have committed the most serious offences.”
In sentencing, Forestell considered the harsh conditions the teen experienced in a youth detention facility where he was strip searched 68 times, often inappropriately.
The maximum sentence for murder under the Youth Criminal Justice Act is 10 years, with six years maximum in custody and the remaining four spent under conditional community supervision.
Sentence ‘will never be long enough,’ father says
In early October, Selvasingam’s family members, including his father, delivered victim impact statements at a sentencing hearing for the teen.
“You killed my son for just a little bit of money,” the father said.
“Myself, my wife, my son and my daughter will never forget or forgive what you have done to my son Sulakshan. There is not a moment that goes by where I’m not grieving the loss of my son. The sentence you receive will never be long enough.”