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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The mother of a convicted gun for hire used artificial intelligence to help craft a letter to the court asking for her son to be shown leniency in his sentencing over the killing of Gavin \u201cCapable\u201d Preston.<\/p>\n Alongside co-offender Rabii Zahabe, 26, Jaedon Tito, 25, arrived at the Supreme Court of Victoria a smiling assassin on Friday, grinning at the waiting media as he was led into the building by specialist security.<\/p>\n There, his mother Levi Tito was waiting to read a character reference detailing her son\u2019s love of rugby and willingness to help people, two months after he was found guilty of executing Preston \u2013 a man he\u2019d never met.<\/p>\n \u201cAn empty space is now at every birthday, every Christmas, every family gathering and every ordinary day in between,\u201d she said. \u201cWe long for the day he can come home to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Tito\u2019s mother, a retail worker, told the court she never imagined having to write a letter to a court, telling the judge she had used ChatGPT to help her make \u201csense\u201d of her words.<\/p>\n \u201cMy greatest joy [was] watching him play rugby league. Countless hours were spent driving him to training.\u201d<\/p>\n She said Tito was one of six children, and described her son as a man who exhibited a kind and caring nature to friends, family and strangers.<\/p>\n \u201cRespect for others, particularly elders, is something we tried to teach all our children, but for Jaeden it seemed to come naturally. Always \u2026 willing to help those around him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She also revealed her son had taken up colouring while in jail to help \u201cclear his mind\u201d, with his two-year-old daughter visiting him there.<\/p>\n \u201cAs his mother, the reality of what has happened has brought a level of heartbreak and sorrow that is difficult to put into words,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill, KC, called for Zahabe and Tito to be jailed for life, labelling the crime a sophisticated murder that was extensively planned.<\/p>\n This, she said, included the pair waiting in a vehicle at the Keilor Hotel car park for three hours before shooting Preston dead outside a popular local cafe on a Saturday morning, and attempting to kill his breakfast partner Abbas \u201cAJ\u201d Maghnie.<\/p>\n The pair then fled back to their homes in NSW in a string of strategically placed, neutral-coloured getaway cars, Churchill said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a planned execution of a known underworld figure in a public place \u2026 It was offending that was in company, involving the use of firearms by offenders who were heavily disguised.\u201d<\/p>\n Defence barrister Paul Smallwood said his client, Zahabe, had experienced challenging conditions while in custody, including being held in protection where he experienced only two hours a week of time outside his cell to attend the prison\u2019s gym.<\/p>\n Smallwood said his client maintained his innocence and denied organising, or being part of, the offending.<\/p>\n He accepted Zahabe was on parole, bail and subject to a firearm prohibition order when the killing occurred, telling the court the 26-year-old at one time played rugby league for the Canterbury Bulldogs before later breaking his leg and turning to cocaine and prescription medication.<\/p>\n Tito\u2019s barrister, Daniel Sala, noted the crime appeared to have been planned by others and, in pointing to his client\u2019s young age, said a sentence in the range of the \u201c30s\u201d was more appropriate than life behind bars.<\/p>\n \u201cLife is a dreadful sentence and should be considered with caution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Justice Michael O\u2019Connell said the level of sophistication involved was \u201cquite extraordinary\u201d, pointing to all substantial number of getaway cars left in place that got the men back to NSW within a matter of hours.<\/p>\n Related Article During the trial earlier this year, the jury were told that Preston purportedly had a $5 million contract on his head after trying to steal the interred body of an underworld rival\u2019s sister, and spent the final months of his life allegedly seeking retribution for old friends while making new enemies.<\/p>\n The defence had argued a swath of Preston\u2019s potential enemies<\/a> could have been responsible, with the list including feuds with significant crime figures Sam \u201cthe Punisher\u201d Abdulrahim, George Marrogi and Waleed Hadarra, and potentially Kazem \u201cKaz\u201d Hamad.<\/p>\n A jury ultimately found both Tito and Zahabe guilty of the murder of Preston and the attempted murder of Maghnie, who was also shot, but survived.<\/p>\n Both killers will be sentenced at a later date.<\/p>\n Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts<\/a> on email or turn on notifications in the app.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Jaeden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/26da229f52fdb142d1bd497c204af907b7e0ad74.jpeg\")
Jaeden Tito escorted by specialist security at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday. Jason South<\/p>\n![\"Crime](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/e4d4beba7b3f336d0c00847c85282648d0b2d9f7.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Levi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/88d27f17c0a03ceada6624fff7a493aae34a768f.jpeg\")
Levi Tito, pictured outside the Supreme Court on Firday.Justin McManus<\/p>\n![\"Rabii](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/086d15520316524bca493fab1b7ff41714a1fddb.jpeg\")
Rabii Zahabe is escorted into Melbourne\u2019s Supreme Court.Jason South<\/p>\n![\"Crime](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b5ee862342bb6671ded5333dab3d701b12d1c372.jpeg\")
Crime scene photos from Gavin Preston\u2019s killing, released by the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Gavin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c80b7ad78667e5e6f941d639eb68c63a2fbe8f86bc160a85d81e18a0bf506be6.jpeg\")
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