Sammy Yatim’s shooting death by a former Toronto police officer was a homicide, a coroner’s inquest has found more than a decade after his death.
Yatim, 18 at the time, died in a downtown Toronto hospital after he was shot several times while alone on a streetcar and holding a small knife on July 27, 2013.
His cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest, the inquest has found.
In 2016, the officer who shot him, then-Const. James Forcillo, was found not guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the first volley of bullets, which court heard was fatal. He was convicted of attempted murder for the second volley, which was fired when Yatim was already on the ground.
Forcillo was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars and was granted full parole in 2020.
I’m not entirely clear on where “homicide” falls on the “second-degree murder” / “attempted murder” scale, though. To me, homicide has always meant the murdery type of murder. What does it mean for Forcillo?
This is what I’ve been mostly asking myself since I’ve heard the homicide ruling. Forcillo has already been tried, convicted, and served his time. I have the most basic understanding of our laws, but he can’t be recharged for the same crime? However, could the family sue him in, like, civil court or something, based on this new ruling?
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