A man who admitted having accidentally shot and killing his stepson during a family barbecue in a small community in southeast of Manitoba almost two years ago was sentenced to six years in prison.
Cory Davis sat in silence in the prisoner’s box on Wednesday, looking down when Dylan Jones’ family members rose to describe how the loss of the loving and selfless young woman of 27 years left them feeling isolated and distrustful of trusting other people.
But it was not until Jones’s older brother got up directly with him that Davis looked at the gallery of the Court Chamber, and replied.
“Look in my eyes and tell me that you feel it. Look in my eyes and tell me that you never had to hurt my little brother,” Nathan Jones read of a victim’s impact statement.
“I never did, man. Everything was an accident,” Davis said, looking at a man who said he once trusted Davis enough to take him to his family circle, before a defense lawyer intervened to end the interaction.
“You stole something that meant more than the world for me. Never forget your name, never forget your face,” Nathan Jones told Davis in a provincial Chamber in Winnipeg. “I had nothing more than love for you. I can remember the feeling. All I can do is remember, I can never forget.”
Davis, now 45 years old, declared himself guilty last year of criminal negligence, causing death with a firearm and possessed a firearm while prohibited in the death of Jones in August 2023.
He also declared himself guilty of violating an order of non -communication in custody by contacting Jones’ mother, who was his wife at the time of the incident. His sentence was jointly recommended by the crown and defense lawyers.
Sawn shotgun in the closet
The events that led to the death of Jones on August 1, 2023 began when the victim appeared to a family barbecue at the house that Davis shared with Jones’ mother at that time in Blumenort, man.
Both men had been drinking throughout the day, while Davis was intoxicated and had also used marijuana, said an agreed statement of facts in court.
Around 7:45 pm, Jones’s mother went out for a cigarette, leaving the two men alone inside.
Jones was showing a replica of the start of the revolver to Davis, and Davis wanted to show his stepson a sawn shotgun that he had in the closet of his room, but did not verify if he was loaded, according to Court.
When Davis took the gun, Jones reached him while Davis was still held, they told the court.
“Mr. Davis said: ‘Do not do that,’ the weapon withdrew, and the weapon accidentally shot once,” read the lawyer of the Kristee Logan crown of the declaration agreed with facts.
Davis said he thinks Jones touched the gun, but he is not sure how the trigger was thrown, and said his finger was not on him, Logan said. When Jones’s mother came back after hearing the loud noise, her son was on the floor and Davis was crying, saying that she accidentally shot her.
Davis then called 911 and “it sounded quite distressed during the call,” Logan said.
“I think we are all on the same page. This is a terrible tragedy and this should not have happened,” Logan said, adding that Davis has previous criminal convictions that resulted in courts that tell him that he did not possess firearms.
“It goes beyond a mere accident, which happened that day two years ago. He chose to drink that day, knowing that bad things happen when he drinks. He chose to maintain a firearm in his closet, blind to whether or not he was loaded.
“He has left his loved ones with a life of pain and duel, and he would probably also include it in that.”
‘You can listen to the pain’
The defense lawyer Saheel Zaman said that Davis had the protection weapon after being released from the prison years before, and said that since then he realized that he has an alcohol addiction for which he wants to receive treatment.
The lawyer also pointed out that his client stayed at the scene, made CPR and called 911 after the gun shot.
“You can listen to repentance, you can listen to the pain, you can listen how emotionally devastated is the defendant” in that call to 911, Zaman said.
“He did everything correctly after this tragic incident that could in circumstances. But it is not a magician, he cannot return someone to life.”
Judge Robin Finlayson described the case as “one of the greatest tragedies I have seen.”
“This was really an accident. There was no intention to kill,” he said. “There is simply, and that is what makes this a true tragedy, in my opinion.”
When he was given the opportunity to address the court himself, Davis told Jones’s family how much I feel it.
“And I hope someday forgive me,” he said. “I hope you find it in your hearts.”
A man who admitted having accidentally shot and killing his stepson during a family barbecue in a small community in southeast of Manitoba in 2023 has been sentenced to six years in prison.
