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Monica Monica, the adopted mom of Elijah Mahepath, who is seen in the picture frame, and her partner James pose for a photo outside a downtown Toronto court on Tuesday, April 21. <\/p>\nA man who shot and killed two strangers in Toronto in April 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.<\/p>\n
Richard Edwin\u2019s sentence was handed a day after he was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Elijah Mahepath and Kartik Vasudev.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth gentlemen were going about their business, something they were entitled to do. There is no indication whatsoever that Mr. Edwin was provoked,\u201d Justice Jane Kelly said during Tuesday\u2019s sentencing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact of Mr. Edwin\u2019s actions cannot be underestimated. Now, he must pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly said the murders have had a chilling effect on the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not think that it stretches the bounds of anyone\u2019s imagination to think it could have been me. Criminal acts such as this one cause us all to fear for our safety,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n
The judge acknowledged the impact of Edwin\u2019s actions on the families of the two men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bullets that struck both gentlemen are being felt by their families. Ambitions came to a deadly stop. Family gatherings are not the same. I am certain that the loss of both will be forever remembered and that the void they created will never be filled,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n
In her decision, Kelly said the murders were planned and deliberate.<\/p>\n
Vasudev, who was on his way to work, was shot several times on April 7, 2022, at an entrance to Sherbourne Station. The 21-year-old, who was a student at Seneca College, later died in the hospital.<\/p>\n
According to the court decision, Edwin travelled to the station in possession of a loaded firearm. Vasudev was walking along the sidewalk past the station, heading towards the staircase when Edwin walked towards him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Edwin rushed past Mr. Vasudev and then turned to face his back. He withdrew his firearm and discharged it several times as Mr. Vasudev was walking away,\u201d the court decision read.<\/p>\n
After Vasudev fell to the ground, \u201cEdwin ran south on Glen Road, turned around, stopped, faced Vasudev and shot in his direction several more times,\u201d the decision stated.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Edwin left his home with the same loaded firearm. According to the court decision, as he was walking on Dundas Street, near George Street, Edwin withdrew the firearm and discharged it several times in the direction of Mahepath as he walked past him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Mahepath fell to the ground. Mr. Edwin continued to shoot in his direction,\u201d the court decision read.<\/p>\n
Mahepath later died in hospital.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m sorry for all of this\u2019<\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s sentencing, Edwin apologized to the families of the victims who were in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for all of this,\u201d he told the court, adding that he was struggling at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any sense. It\u2019s a senseless act. I\u2019m sorry for it, and I want forgiveness as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Kelly rejected the defence that Edwin was not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. He was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 2010.<\/p>\n
Kelly concluded that she was not satisfied Edwin\u2019s mental disorder rendered him incapable of knowing that his actions were morally wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Edwin planned to kill a stranger on April 9, 2022, by shooting them. He deliberated on that plan. It was \u2018carefully thought out\u2019 and \u2018considered\u2019 before it was implemented,\u201d Kelly wrote in her decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my view that the evidence of Mr. Edwin\u2019s mental disorder does not raise a reasonable doubt as to whether either of the murders was planned and deliberate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwin did not testify during his trial.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why would somebody do that?\u2019<\/p>\n
Israel Mahepath, the brother of Elijah, spoke directly to Edwin as he gave his victim impact statement.<\/p>\n
He told Edwin the murder of his brother hurt him on so many levels.<\/p>\n
Israel said if his brother were alive, he would\u2019ve wanted to understand the bigger picture.<\/p>\n
He told Edwin he can be forgiven, but he must choose to put his faith in Jesus.<\/p>\n
Monica, Mahepath\u2019s adopted mom, told CP24 outside court on Tuesday before the sentencing that she is still grieving his death.<\/p>\n
Monica Monica, the adopted mom of Elijah Mahepath, who is seen in the picture frame, and her partner James pose for a photo outside a downtown Toronto court on Tuesday, April 21. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost a very good guy who could have been anything he wanted in this world,\u201d said Monica as she was holding a picture of Mahepath.<\/p>\n
She still cannot understand why someone could shoot her son from behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would somebody do that?\u201d Monica asked. \u201cI don\u2019t understand it. I\u2019m still trying to digest that. Why? I really don\u2019t know why.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who shot and killed two strangers in Toronto in April 2022 has been sentenced to life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":{"0":"post-619621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-toronto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}