Family members of a man who was shot to death in Blenheim two years ago had some hard truths for the man convicted of playing a part in their loved one's killing.
Darius White, 21, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter at Chatham court on Wednesday and was sentenced to five years behind bars in connection to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Braedon Burk of Blenheim on April 21, 2021 after a drug deal gone bad.
The sentence was a joint submission by the prosecution and the defence and the presiding judge said it's just above the four year mandatory minimum. White was also handed 18 months probation after his sentence is completed. He still has roughly two years left to serve after getting enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody.
White is also under a lifetime ban from owning or possessing weapons and can't have any contact with several people, including the Burk family or his co-accused.
White was originally charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder, but the court heard he was not the one who pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting.
Defence lawyer Jordana Goldlist told the court White has Indigenous status and is traumatized by family members going to residential schools.
Burk's mother Sheryl Caron fought through her tears to tell White that hardships in life didn't give him a pass to destroy people. She said the usual "I'm sorry" line doesn't make anything okay, adding that the pain in her heart is just as strong today as the day it happened.
"I want you to realize and truly understand the actions that day didn't take the life of just some kid from a small town. It took the life of a son, a brother, an uncle, a best friend. Braedon is missed everyday, he's talked about everyday," said Caron.
Burk's father Jamie Burk told the court in a victim impact statement that his son looked forward to teaching his younger brothers to drive but now won't get the chance. Burk's father also said happy family occasions have turned sad because Braedon is not there and for that reason he can't forgive White.
White’s co-accused, 20-year-old Chad Coupe, the shooter, was already sentenced to nine years in a penitentiary on July 2022 after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Crown Attorney Robert MacDonald told the court that White and Coupe stole some drugs during a drug transaction at a drug dealer's house in Blenheim and Burk ended up being shot after he allegedly pointed a replica handgun at them.
Burk was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead about an hour later on the operating table.
MacDonald said White and Coupe fled the scene but their vehicle was found within minutes on Communication Road. The driver, White, surrendered to the police but the passenger, Coupe, moved into the driver’s seat and took off, according to the Crown. MacDonald noted Coupe, who was on the run from another robbery in Windsor, was later taken into custody after a high-risk traffic stop on Kent Bridge Road where a handgun and drugs were recovered.
White, who was out on bail for an alleged robbery at the time of the shooting, apologized to Burk's family and friends, saying nobody was supposed to get hurt, let alone die.