A man who was charged and convicted for his involvement in a fatal swarming on Whyte Avenue has been sentenced to five years in prison.
26-year-old Cleophas Decoine-Zuniga was sentenced before a packed courtroom Wednesday afternoon.
In 2011, Decoine-Zuniga was charged with manslaughter, five years after 20-year-old Dylan McGillis was killed in a violent attack.
McGillis was out celebrating on Whyte Avenue in November 2006, when he was beaten and stabbed.
“I’m happy but I always want more. My son doesn’t get out in 5 years, he stays where he is now,’ said the victim’s mother Marlene Beres.
Decoine-Zuniga confessed to participating in that fatal swarming.
During his trial, a court heard Decoine-Zuniga told an undercover police officer that he stomped on McGillis.
McGillis was killed when he was stabbed by one of his attackers, whose identity is still unknown.
Police are still investigating the murder, and the victim’s family says they're holding out hope more charges will be laid.
“Things aren't over yet. We’re hopeful they'll come up with some new developments, and people - as they grow in age - they may change their minds in coming forward,” said the victim’s father Grant McGillis.
Justice John Gill calls the case “a parent’s worst nightmare”.
Before McGillis was killed, he had just learned he would be a father, and was out celebrating the news.
His daughter is now 7-years-old and is being raised by the girl’s grandparents.
With files from Veronica Jubinville
