A 16-year-old Ontario boy, already in custody on an unrelated matter, was arrested Thursday morning for the murder of a prominent blue-aligned gang member, Stevens Cantave, committed in Montreal earlier this year, a crime that has all the appearances of a contract.
The young man was apprehended by investigators from the Major Crimes Unit of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) at the Kitchener youth centre, where he is being held for a robbery with a firearm.
“The young suspect will appear by videoconference within the next 24 hours at the Youth Division of the Court of Quebec to answer charges of first-degree murder,” the SPVM said in a press release.
According to the statement, the teenager was accompanied by another suspect during the crime. The latter has not yet been arrested. The investigation is continuing.
Cantave, 42, was shot dead on February 6 in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, while he was in a vehicle in a parking lot on Boulevard des Sources, near Boulevard Brunswick.
“The getaway vehicle used by the alleged shooters was found the day after the murder. The Major Crimes Section continued its investigation after this discovery. Various pieces of evidence and expert reports eventually made it possible to identify the 16-year-old suspect as possibly the shooter,” the SPVM added in its press release.
According to our information, the suspects’ vehicle had been stolen in Quebec.
Everything indicates that this is another example of a trend noted in police investigations aimed at solving murders linked to organized crime and committed in Quebec and Ontario in recent years: a certain mobility of a workforce composed of Quebec and Ontario hitmen who move between the two provinces.
With big names
Cantave, nicknamed No Chance, originally from the Rosemont–Saint-Michel sector and considered a “veteran” among street gang members, was allegedly active in drug trafficking in northern Montreal.
He was close to Gregory Woolley, a gang leader associated with the mafia and formerly with the Hells Angels, killed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu last November, and to Marckens Vilme, a prominent member of the Ruffriders, a street gang with blue allegiance that is very present in the West Island of Montreal.
Vilme is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Niagara chapter Hells Angel Michael Deabaitua-Schulde, who was killed as he was leaving a Mississauga, Ont., training facility in March 2019.
According to our information, Stevens Cantave was also, at least at one time, close to Atna Onha, whose nickname is Tupac, another influential blue-allegiance street gang member in Montreal.
Cantave’s murder was the fifth committed on the island of Montreal this year.
This is the fifth arrests announced by the SPVM in two days, all linked to three murders, including two of gang members.
To contact Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.