Another sentencing date has been set for one of the people charged in the shooting death of a Barrie teenager two years ago.
Alexander Craggs, who was 18 years old at the time of the south-end homicide on Nov. 19, 2021, was charged along with two 17-year-old males with first-degree murder in the death of a 17-year-old victim. The names of the other accused, as well as the male victim, are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The victim was shot to death outside a River Ridge Road home, near Golden Meadow Road and Hurst Drive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time, neighbourhood residents reported hearing multiple gunshots. Barrie police called the fatal shooting an isolated incident.
Craggs appeared in court via video on Thursday from the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene. He said nothing other than to say good afternoon and to confirm his name.
His defence lawyer, Lee Sela, said had met with her client and then with the Crown and asked to set the sentencing submissions date for Thursday, June 8 at 9:30 a.m. in the Barrie courthouse.
That was agreed upon with the suggestion that Craggs also be at court in person on Monday, June 5 so Sela could meet with him for some final instructions and further discussions.
Court heard that sentencing could take half a day as Sela and the Crown said they had much of the details worked.
This would be the second attempt at sentencing. Craggs had been scheduled to be sentenced on March 31 in a Bradford court, but a last-minute turn of events left him without a lawyer.
Craggs, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of murder in December 2022. He appeared at his sentencing hearing in March on the accessory charge in a Bradford courtroom, due to overcrowding at the Barrie courthouse, after previously pleading guilty. He is also still charged with first-degree murder.
At that time, Crown attorney Lynne Saunders explained why Craggs still had the more serious charge against him.
"In December, at the conclusion of resolution discussions, an additional charge (of) being accessory after the fact of murder was sworn," Saunders told BarrieToday. "Mr. Craggs pleaded guilty to that offence on Dec. 13, 2022. He was adjourned to (March 31) for sentencing on the accessory charge with the murder count remaining outstanding.
"This is quite normal because we want to ensure that the plea and sentencing on the lesser charge are completed before we agree to withdraw the original charge(s)," she added. "As a result of the proceedings (March 31), both charges remain outstanding while Mr. Craggs searches for a new lawyer."
At the March proceedings, Craggs's lawyer, Stacey Taraniuk, asked to be removed from the case due to what he said were “statements that were made in the pre-sentencing report in Mr. Craggs's matter ... which leads me to the inescapable conclusion that Mr. Craggs should probably speak to another lawyer.”
Saunders said she agreed with Taraniuk, based on what she saw as “a significant contradiction between admissions made in the agreed statement of fact and comments attributed to Mr. Craggs by the author of the pre-sentence report.”
The court did not hear what those specific concerns were, but the justice of the peace agreed to excuse Taraniuk after hearing from both lawyers and getting approval from Craggs himself.
The other two accused were also in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
