Playground shooter sentenced to 13 years in prison
A Toronto man who was part of a shooting that injured two young girls at a playground back in 2018 has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars.
T'Quan Robertson, 25, was sentenced Thursday.
Robertson is one of several men police say took part in a shooting at 10 Alton Towers Circle, near McCowan Road and Steeles Avenue in Scarborough, on a June afternoon in 2018.
Police said they were targeting a man who was at a playground where 11 kids were also playing.
Two sisters, aged five and nine at the time, suffered gunshot wounds. The girls had to undergo surgery, but survived.
Robertson was arrested in July on charges including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
He had been in hiding for several months.
In June, police announced a reward of up to $75,000 for information leading to Robertson's arrest.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Jon McMahon said he weighed mitigating and aggravating factors in the case.
Mitigating factors included Robertson pleading guilty to all charges as soon as was feasible, sparing the victims and their family from a lengthy trial. McMahon also noted Robertson has expressed remorse for his actions, and has been taking education courses while in custody.
But several aggravating factors also had to be taken into account, McMahon said. Those included that Robertson was in possession of a loaded gun, despite having a prior gun charge from seven years ago, for which he was slapped with a 10-year- firearm prohibition order that was in turn violated.
McMahon also said that day on the playground was a planned execution where Robertson and another man watched their target before ambushing, and firing 10 shots with children around — something the justice deemed an "extremely aggravating" factor.
The Crown had been seeking a 15-year sentence, while the defence was pushing for 10.
Robertson's sentence includes a lifetime weapons ban.
