Junior Manon inquest begins Jan. 9

The province’s Office of the Chief Coroner has said that an inquest into the death of Junior Manon, the teen who died as police tried to arrest him, will begin next month.

The inquiry starts on Jan. 9, 2012, in Toronto.

Manon, 18, died on May 5, 2010, during his arrest by Toronto police.

Manon was driving that day with a friend in North York when he was pulled over by two police officers.

A check of the police database showed Manon was under probation and not allowed to drive as part of his conditions.

When one of the officers tried to handcuff him, he fled and a foot chase occurred at York University. As police tried to arrest him in a grassy area, a struggle occurred and Manon collapsed and died.

Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist found the teen had died from “positional asphyxia following struggle and exertion.”

The province’s Special Investigations Unit investigated and cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing in January.

The inquest will examine the events surrounding Manon’s death, and a jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.

Dr. Dan Cass will preside as inquest coroner and Frank Giordano will be the inquest counsel.

The inquiry, which is mandatory under the Coroners Act, will hear from about 25 witnesses and is expected to last three to four weeks.

Man acquitted of murder in Andre Moore slaying

Man acquitted of murder in Andre Moore slaying 

By Sam Pazzano

 

TORONTO - A Scarborough construction worker was acquitted Thursday of murdering the brother of accused serial killer Mark Moore.
Aftern 17 hours of deliberations, a Superior Court jury cleared Kenya Smith, 33, of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Andre Moore, 27, in a laneway near Eglinton Ave. E. and Markham Rd. on Oct. 14, 2008.
“This case was fairly prosecuted by the Scarborough Crown’s office and fairly investigated by the homicide squad and the jury had all the evidence it required to reach the right verdict,” said defence lawyer Gary Grill.
“Mr. Smith committed a violent act out of fear and he hopes to return to his previously peaceful life again,” said Grill of his client, who has no prior convictions.
Smith walked out of the courtroom a free man.
Smith, 33, testified last week that he was defending himself when he shot Moore because the two had met previously.
Moore shot at and tried unsuccessfully to rob Smith in an apartment building hallway in August 2008.
Smith said he also feared Moore’s brother Mark, who was charged last week with four counts of first-degree murder.
Andre Moore’s criminal record included a 2002 gun possession conviction but despite frequent crimes since then he had no other gun convictions.
Court heard Smith stopped his vehicle in the laneway and spotted Moore just after noon on Oct. 14, 2008. Smith believed he was reaching for his firearm, but Crown attorney Sean Hickey said in his closing that Moore was packing only his lunch and a bright red umbrella.
He urged the jury to disbelieve that Moore had shot at Smith two months earlier.
“There is no credible evidence there was a shooting in the hallway in 2008,” said Hickey.
It wasn’t a planned encounter but a chance meeting. But Smith wanted to exact revenge against Moore, argued Hickey.
Forensic evidence backed the Crown’s theory that Smith fired through the driver’s window, shattering the glass and then the gunman opened the door to put a bullet into Moore’s temple as he lay wounded on the ground.