Man outraged after convicted murderer who shot him granted release to attend funeral

When Leonard Bell spotted a heavy police presence accompanying a funeral procession on his way to the hardware store last week, he could never have guessed the officers were guarding the man who nearly killed him 12 years ago.

In 2004, Bell was shot nine times by the one-time leader of one of Toronto's most notorious street gangs, the Galloway Boys, and watched his friend, 31-year-old Brenton Charlton, die before his very eyes.

Last Thursday, Tyshan Riley was back in Toronto to attend a visitation for his father, something Bell only learned a day after he drove by the funeral procession.

"I thought, 'Maybe it's just another funeral,'" Bell told CBC News. "I had no idea what was happening there."

He only found out when a friend called him up and told him the convicted murderer was allowed to travel from Quebec for the wake.

A source told CBC News that Riley was transported from a Quebec institution to attend the event in Toronto. Jean-Francois Cusson, acting regional communications manager with the Correctional Service of Canada in Quebec, would not confirm if a pass was given or if Riley is an inmate in that province.

But he did acknowledge that there is a provision allowing inmates to be granted temporary absences on a compassionate basis in specific cases.

"When there is someone in the family that just died, that's one of the reasons we can agree to an absence," Cusson said.

People in the St. Clair Avenue West and Dufferin Street area last Thursday described dozens of officers, including emergency task force members, blocking off the streets around Jerrett Funeral Homes.

"Our tax dollars is going into paying for his transportation? Totally ridiculous, totally ridiculous," Bell said.

'A slap in the face'

"It just comes like a complete slap in the face."

In March 2004, Bell was wounded, while Charlton was killed beside him.

The two men were riding in an SUV together that had just stopped at a stoplight on Neilson Road, when it came under attack.

Riley and Phillip Atkins, both 26 at the time of their convictions in 2009, and 23-year-old Jason Wisdom, were all members of the gang Galloway Boys. They shot up Charlton's vehicle, thinking he belonged to the rival gang Malvern Crew. It was a case of mistaken identity.

All three men were convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and committing murder for the benefit of a criminal organization.

Bell, who was in the passenger seat, was seriously wounded but survived, though he still has four bullets in his body.

'A high degree of trust' in system, prime minister says

"My feeling personally, I feel like I was violated... like was I was assaulted all over again. There's no regard for the victims of his crime. No regard whatsoever," Bell said.

But on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne refused to second guess the correctional service's decision to grant Riley the absence.

"I have a high degree of trust and confidence in our justice system and I think it's extremely important that our federal politicians or politicians in general don't meddle with the processes of our independent judiciary," Trudeau said.

Wynne echoed the point, saying she continues to have faith in the judiciary to make "wise decisions."

The John Howard Society, which helps rehabilitate released prisoners, says one way to ensure former inmates are successfully re-integrated into society is to allow them to maintain family support and that means allowing the prisoners to grieve their loved ones when they die.

"Rehabilitation is a key objective of corrections... Not only is denying prisoners an opportunity to attend the funerals of their parents inhumane, it is an embittering experience that serves neither the prisoner nor the community in the long run," a spokeswoman wrote in a statement Tuesday.

For Bell, the statements are cold comfort.

"The people who are in charge, our lawmakers, they need to take another look at the way they're handling law and incarceration," he said. "It should have never happened."