3 men given automatic life sentences for Toronto shooting that killed 'playful child, full of life'

Three men have been given six life sentences each for a shooting in Toronto nearly five years ago that left a 12-year-old boy dead and three other people injured.

In May, a jury found Rashawn Chambers, Jahwayne Smart, and Cjay Hobbs guilty of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting that killed Dante Sebastian Andreatta.

On Thursday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett sentenced the three to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for the first-degree murder charge. She handed each another five life sentences, to be served concurrently, for the five counts of attempted murder.

On Nov. 7, 2020, Chambers and Smart, masked and gloved, opened fire on five teens in a parked car in a lot near Jane Street and Stong Court, north of Finch Avenue W. Hobbs was the getaway driver. 

Andreatta was grocery shopping when he was hit by a stray bullet. He died in hospital four days later from a bullet wound to the neck.

One of the teens injured in the shooting, Jonathan Adamski, drove away while the gunmen were firing. His right arm was shattered. Eighteen months later, he died of a drug overdose.

Both Andreatta and Adamski donated their organs.

In her reasons, Barrett told the court that the sentence for the charges must reflect the seriousness of the crime. She noted that 36 bullets were fired that afternoon and described the shooting as shocking.

"The actions of the three accused were carefully orchestrated," Barrett said.

"Particularly disturbing is the video footage from after the shooting. All three returned to a downtown condo and are captured on video in the elevator, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred only an hour earlier."

At trial, Chambers and Smart admitted that they were the two shooters, while Hobbs admitted that he drove Chambers in a stolen car to and from 25 Stong Court, where the shooting occurred.

Barrett said the gunmen went to Stong Court with an intent to kill but their motive is not known.

She described the victim impact statements, delivered by family and friends of Andreatta and Adamski, as "heartbreaking."

'An emptiness that nothing can fill'

In his statement, Sebastian Andreatta said his son was a wonderful boy.

"My son, my little boy, was a beautiful, affectionate, playful child, full of life and healthy, inside and out, a good companion and an optimist, full of energy and life," he said.

"He loved to accompany me to work. We spent many Saturdays together. He loved Canada, he loved his friends, his siblings, his mother, and his grandparents, he loved riding his bike, he would go around the parks, he loved my barbecues, playing soccer with me. My boy, how much I miss you," he added.

"Today everything has changed, it's not the same anymore, there's an emptiness that nothing can fill, there's a silence that no one can break. We're not the same as before, there's a pain that will never heal. We miss him, we miss Dante."

Dante was born in Bolivia to an Argentine father and a Salvadoran mother, but the family lived in Chile before immigrating to Canada 18 months before his death. 

'My angel, my boy, my hero, my loving innocent son'

Dante's mother, Karla Marroquin, said she will never hear her son tell her that he loves her again.

Marroquin said she had to say goodbye to her son four days after he was shot, when his family agreed to disconnect him so the hospital could remove his organs.

"My angel, my boy, my hero, my loving innocent son," she said, describing his death as unjust.

She also gave letters from two of her son's organ recipients as documents in the sentencing hearings.

Marroquin says that the death of her son has had a profound impact on her life for almost five years. 

"I have had nightmares, I could not sleep, even eat, nor take care of myself," she said.

She said that she will never be able to see him grow up, become a father and a husband. 

'We will never stop missing him'

Dante's two sisters also delivered statements, as did their grandmother.

Luciana said Dante loved to tease her, laugh and make jokes.

"Dante was only 12 years old. But in those 12 years, he filled our lives with more love, laughter and light than most people do in a lifetime," she said."We will never stop missing him."

Adriana added her brother was very sociable and that she envied him very much because she was his complete opposite. 

"At school, he was loved by everyone, he was friends with everyone, he was very sociable... He was the complete opposite of me, and that made me envy him a little because I would have liked to be sociable like him and be able to integrate into Canada like him, but I couldn't, and to this day, I still can't," she said.

"Everything and much more boils down to the fact that they destroyed my life and my family's life too," she said, adding that she is now afraid to go out on the streets after what happened.

"It left a void in my heart, in my soul," she said.

'The heartbreak is constant and like no other'

Jonathan Adamski, died a year and a half after the shooting of an overdose of painkillers after being unable to overcome the physical and psychological effects of the shooting. He suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following the shooting.

Anna Adamska, his mother, told the court that her son died after being "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And although he survived the shooting, it destroyed his life as well as my family's. He passed away on May 4th, 2022, just a year and a half later," she said.

"He was diagnosed with severe PTSD and had incredible survivor's guilt that consumed him everyday— he couldn't fathom that an innocent 12-year-old boy (Dante Andreatta) died that day, and that he had survived and lived. He told me often that he wished it had been him instead and this was something that he simply could not get over or comprehend."

She said that her son was also never able to overcome his pain and disability after losing the mobility of his arm and hand. 

"This also resulted in him losing three jobs because he was unable to keep up and perform the required tasks due to the lack of mobility in his hand. He also started losing his hair after this incident, from the stress, lack of sleep, fear and anxiousness."

Adamska said her son's death has taken an enormous toll on her.

"I live with intense grief and anxiety. The heartbreak is constant and like no other. I don't wish this type of pain on anyone," she said.

"Life is not the same. I miss his smile. I miss his laugh. I miss his hugs. We were very close. I had him at a younger age and he was my rock, he grew up with me. We had a very close bond. He was my whole world."

Adamski donated his heart, liver, both of his kidneys, pancreas and lungs to six people.

"This shooting taught me how ugly this world can be, and that there do exist awful human beings in this world. But I still choose to see beauty in the world," his mother said.

"There are kind and beautiful people, and the world has so much to offer. I want to take the darkness from this situation and look for the light."