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Man acquitted in notorious shooting found slain
Former Toronto resident tried in Just Desserts case was deported to Jamaica in 2002
UNNATI GANDHI
November 3, 2007
The man who was acquitted in the notorious Just Desserts shooting, but later deported, has been shot dead in Jamaica.
O'Neil Grant was found with several gunshot wounds to his body late Monday night at a busy downtown bus terminal in west Kingston. Police say the 35-year-old was hunted down in the crowd.
"He was approached by a lone gunman on foot, who opened fire, hitting him," Leslie Green, Jamaica's assistant commissioner of police for serious and organized crime, told The Globe and Mail. "... From the investigation to date, the officers believe this may have been a reprisal, that he may have shot somebody locally some time ago."
Mr. Grant was taken to Kingston Public Hospital shortly before midnight, where he was pronounced dead.
His death marks the final chapter of a life that, in the eyes of his family and friends, has been hounded by tragedy and misfortune.
In April of 1994, Mr. Grant was charged with manslaughter and robbery in the shooting death of Georgina (ViVi) Leimonis, who was having coffee with a friend at the Just Desserts café on Davenport Road.
After 5½ years in the Don Jail, he was acquitted of all charges by a jury in 1999.
Lawrence Brown was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in Ms. Leimonis's death, and Gary Francis received a 15-year sentence for manslaughter and robbery convictions.
But the publicity surrounding the shooting and Mr. Grant's treatment in jail resounded for years afterward, and highlighted racial divisions in Toronto and concerns about immigration policy.
In a separate ruling handed down in November, 1998, Mr. Justice Brian Trafford of Ontario Superior Court wrote that Mr. Grant was unfairly treated during his time at the Don Jail, including the use of waist restraints connected to his handcuffs.
"The use of restraints ... was the result, in part, of cultural insensitivity towards black people," he wrote.
And while Mr. Grant had not been convicted of a crime since 1992, or been charged with any offences since his release from jail, the father of three was ultimately deported to his native Jamaica in 2002, from where he had come to Canada at the age of 11.
An immigration board said he had violated the terms of a stay of an earlier deportation order, one of which was failing to notify authorities of his change in address when he was being held at the Don Jail.
Heather McArthur, one of Mr. Grant's lawyers, said she has kept in touch with Mr. Grant's common-law wife, his mother and his siblings, all of whom still live in Canada. His two daughters, 7 and 18, and son, 14, learned of his death two days ago.
"They're devastated," Ms. McArthur said.
She said there is no way Mr. Grant, who had been having a hard time adjusting to life in Jamaica where deportees are treated roughly, was involved in any criminal activity in the Caribbean country. She added he never should have been deported from Canada in the first place.
"He was an innocent man. He didn't do it. But still, he stayed in jail for over 5½ years ... and despite that, they sent him down to a country where he knew nobody, he had no money, they just put him on a plane," she said. "And now, he's dead."
Former Toronto resident tried in Just Desserts case was deported to Jamaica in 2002
UNNATI GANDHI
November 3, 2007
The man who was acquitted in the notorious Just Desserts shooting, but later deported, has been shot dead in Jamaica.
O'Neil Grant was found with several gunshot wounds to his body late Monday night at a busy downtown bus terminal in west Kingston. Police say the 35-year-old was hunted down in the crowd.
"He was approached by a lone gunman on foot, who opened fire, hitting him," Leslie Green, Jamaica's assistant commissioner of police for serious and organized crime, told The Globe and Mail. "... From the investigation to date, the officers believe this may have been a reprisal, that he may have shot somebody locally some time ago."
Mr. Grant was taken to Kingston Public Hospital shortly before midnight, where he was pronounced dead.
His death marks the final chapter of a life that, in the eyes of his family and friends, has been hounded by tragedy and misfortune.
In April of 1994, Mr. Grant was charged with manslaughter and robbery in the shooting death of Georgina (ViVi) Leimonis, who was having coffee with a friend at the Just Desserts café on Davenport Road.
After 5½ years in the Don Jail, he was acquitted of all charges by a jury in 1999.
Lawrence Brown was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in Ms. Leimonis's death, and Gary Francis received a 15-year sentence for manslaughter and robbery convictions.
But the publicity surrounding the shooting and Mr. Grant's treatment in jail resounded for years afterward, and highlighted racial divisions in Toronto and concerns about immigration policy.
In a separate ruling handed down in November, 1998, Mr. Justice Brian Trafford of Ontario Superior Court wrote that Mr. Grant was unfairly treated during his time at the Don Jail, including the use of waist restraints connected to his handcuffs.
"The use of restraints ... was the result, in part, of cultural insensitivity towards black people," he wrote.
And while Mr. Grant had not been convicted of a crime since 1992, or been charged with any offences since his release from jail, the father of three was ultimately deported to his native Jamaica in 2002, from where he had come to Canada at the age of 11.
An immigration board said he had violated the terms of a stay of an earlier deportation order, one of which was failing to notify authorities of his change in address when he was being held at the Don Jail.
Heather McArthur, one of Mr. Grant's lawyers, said she has kept in touch with Mr. Grant's common-law wife, his mother and his siblings, all of whom still live in Canada. His two daughters, 7 and 18, and son, 14, learned of his death two days ago.
"They're devastated," Ms. McArthur said.
She said there is no way Mr. Grant, who had been having a hard time adjusting to life in Jamaica where deportees are treated roughly, was involved in any criminal activity in the Caribbean country. She added he never should have been deported from Canada in the first place.
"He was an innocent man. He didn't do it. But still, he stayed in jail for over 5½ years ... and despite that, they sent him down to a country where he knew nobody, he had no money, they just put him on a plane," she said. "And now, he's dead."
