Joseph Cameron's killer met him hours before death, judge finds
Summary of testimony depicts a casual killing hours after accused met 20-year-old victim
A teenager convicted of murdering Joseph Douglas Cameron only met the 20-year-old hours before gunning him down on a Dartmouth sidewalk.
That was the determination of Judge Anne Derrick in her written decision, which was released on Friday.
The document outlines testimony that described the hours leading up to the 2016 death of Cameron, who was one of several young black men killed by gun violence in the Halifax area that spring.
An 18-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month in Halifax provincial youth court.
Derrick's decision also sheds light on the casual nature of the killing by the teenager, whose name is protected by a publication ban because he was 17 at the time.
The Jack Boys
Police responded to a report of shots fired near Spring Avenue and Mount Edward Road shortly before dawn on March 29, 2016. They discovered Cameron lying dead on the sidewalk in a pool of blood.
According to evidence presented at trial, he had been driving around in a stolen car with the accused and a few other teens that night.
Some of them were members of a group dubbed the Jack Boys, which robbed people for money, often targeting drug dealers, the decision said.
They had been attempting robberies that night but were unsuccessful.
Disagreement over leg room
At around 3 a.m., the 15-year-old driver of the car called the accused and picked him up.
The older teenager took a disliking to Cameron after a disagreement that was purportedly over leg room in the back seat of the Kia Rondo.
It was the first time the two had met, the court heard.
Cameron decided to leave the group and walk home but he "did not get far," Derrick wrote, as the accused had decided he wanted to kill him.
The 15 year old then drove the accused to intercept Cameron on his walk, and watched as the 17 year old approached Cameron and shot him twice with a sawed-off rifle at close range, the judge concluded.
Crown seeking adult sentence
Three days later, on April Fool's Day, the teen who had been driving the car fired a newly acquired 12-gauge shotgun into the ground from his front step to see if the gun worked. He then went back inside and went to sleep.
The gunshot drew police to the area, who searched his home and found the shotgun along with the same type of sawed-off rifle used to kill Cameron.
Police arrested the accused in London, Ont., four months later and he was returned to Nova Scotia to face trial.
Driver guilty of 2nd degree murder
The Crown is seeking to have the offender sentenced as an adult. If that happens, his identity would also no longer be protected by a publication ban.
The driver of the car pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year, and testified that it was the older teenager who "pulled the trigger," Derrick wrote.
She has recused herself from the sentencing hearing after being appointed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
The case is expected to return to court next month to set a sentencing date.