Hensley Jean sentenced to life imprisonment | “Gun crime is a scourge”

“Gun crime is a scourge, a societal problem that the courts must speak out loudly and unequivocally.” A Superior Court judge delivered a vibrant plea on Friday against gun violence in Quebec by imposing life in prison on a street gang member who nearly murdered an honest citizen.

Louis-Samuel Perron
Press

“It is up to the courts to send a clear message that violent acts committed by firearms have no place in a peaceful and secure society. […] The sentence must send a strong message to criminal organizations, as well as to individuals who would like to commit firearms crimes that severe sentences must be imposed “, ruled the judge Hélène Di Salvo Friday afternoon in an extremely harsh judgment at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.

Hensley Jean receives the maximum sentence. This is the first time in Quebec that a life sentence has been imposed for an attempted murder with a firearm. Hensley Jean will be eligible for parole after seven years in prison. He was found guilty by a jury last June at the end of his trial.

In June 2019, Hensley Jean came close to killing Samuel Indig, an uneventful man who had just moved with his family to a peaceful neighborhood in Saint-Eustache. Hensley Jean “cowardly” shot him in the back in front of his house, before approaching to finish him “in cold blood”, while he was defenseless on the ground.

“The only thing that separates a murderer from Mr. Hensley Jean… is a jammed gun,” Judge Di Salvo concluded. Indeed, Hensley Jean’s imposing pistol jammed just as he was trying to hit his target. Furthermore, it is a personal error, since the shooter was targeting the former resident of the house.

“The victim begged him to stop, the accused persisted. He only left the crime scene because his weapon jammed and because he had emptied his magazine, “added the judge, who does not retain” any “mitigating factor for the accused.

As Hensley Jean is affiliated with a Montreal-North street gang of red allegiance, the “Goon Squad”, the Crown has brought into evidence numerous expert testimonies demonstrating the outbreak of gun violence in Montreal. The judge thus noted that hundreds of shots have been fired for two years in the metropolis, a “marked increase in frequency and intensity”.

“Firearms are a threat to everyone”

In the eyes of Judge Di Salvo, the sentence imposed on Hensley Jean must therefore “take into account the worrying situation we are living in Montreal”. “The Tribunal can consider this situation to respond to the crying need to denounce the illegal behavior and to discourage anyone from committing a crime with the use of a firearm,” said the judge.

The judge insisted in her judgment on the importance of “preserving public security” in Quebec. “Citizens have the right to live in peace, without fear, in a peaceful society. Citizens have the right to wander the streets, to sit on their balconies, to rest in their homes, without ever fear of receiving a stray bullet. Firearms are a threat to everyone, ”insisted Judge Di Salvo.

Quoting the Supreme Court, Judge Di Salvo recalls that the maximum penalty is not reserved only for “the worst cases involving the worst circumstances and the worst criminals”. The maximum penalty must therefore be imposed “whenever the circumstances justify it”, she adds.

“No words can accurately describe the violence of the actions of the accused on June 3, 2019. Words are not sufficient to describe the brutality of this attack,” she insisted in the introduction of his judgment of 43 pages.

A judgment praised by Crown attorneys M^e Baribeau and M^e Vanessa Dorval. “Today, a judge took her responsibilities […] With all the climate of armed violence in Montreal, which the entire population has witnessed for several months and with such a heinous crime committed with appalling contempt for human life, this judgment sends a message to the public in general and to the victims that the we can still have confidence in the courts, ”commented M^e Baribeau.

M^e Noémie Tellier and M^e Marion Burelle represented the accused who did not appeal the guilty verdict.