Jahwayne Smart told a jury in a downtown pc28courtroom Tuesday that he “felt like the lowest person on the Earth” when he learned he was responsible for the death of Dante Andreatta, a 12-year-old boy who died after being hit by a stray bullet on Nov. 7, 2020, near Jane and Finch Streets.
“I was devastated ... it made me ashamed and sad for the child and his family,” Smart told a jury after taking the stand in his own defence.
Smart and his co-accused, Rashawn Chambers, have admitted they each fired 18 rounds that afternoon while chasing a vehicle with five teenagers they say they did not know, injuring three of them. Cjay Hobbs has also admitted he was driving the stolen Honda that took Chambers and Smart to and from the shooting scene. They have each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Andreatta was out walking with his mom on the sidewalk on the other side of Jane Street when he was hit in the neck by a bullet fired by one of the two shooters. He was rushed to Sick Kids hospital and died days later on Nov. 11.
On Tuesday, Smart told the jury he was armed that afternoon with a Glock 19 handgun that had an extended magazine that allowed it to fire more bullets — a “common thing on the street,” he testified, wearing a powder blue sweater and wire-framed glasses. “Young kids are carrying guns like that right now,” he said, answering questions from his lawyer, Richard Posner.
Smart, who grew up in Regent Park, said he began drug dealing and carrying a gun when he was 14 or 15 and was shot multiple times; in November 2020, he was on parole and serving an earlier sentence for gun possession.
Surveillance footage from Nov. 7, 2020, shows the shooting that killed 12-year-old bystander Dante Andreatta, who was out walking with his mom on the far sidewalk of Jane Street, in North York. The video shows gunmen Rashawn Chambers and Jahwayne Smart opening fire on a car containing five teens. At trial, Chambers and Smart have testified they fired in response to a gun being waved in their direction.
Despite carrying guns that day, Chambers and Smart say they didn’t plan to use them, and that opening fire was a spontaneous decision borne of panic. Prosecutors Patrick Clement and Arian Khader are alleging the shooting was planned.
Both men were later arrested at a downtown Canadian Tire with the same loaded firearms they used on Nov. 7.
On Tuesday, Smart told jurors they went to an apartment complex parking lot behind 25 Strong Court, masked and wearing gloves, in order to conduct a drug rip-off. He testified they had a fake kilo of cocaine — it was baking soda — that they planned to sell to an unsuspecting customer from London, Ont., driving a silver Nissan. Smart said Hobbs put the deal together, and that he and Chambers were going to split $15,000.
When they got to the parking lot, Smart said they saw a silver Honda that Hobbs believed was the buyer. Smart said he didn’t think it was the right vehicle since they were looking for a Nissan; as well, the occupants appeared to be young.
To prove Hobbs wrong, Smart said he got out of the vehicle and walked toward the Honda in order to get the passenger’s attention.
“As I approached, I see a gun pointing right at me,” he told court.
One of the occupants of the vehicle — who was 17 at the time — has testified that he displayed a gun that afternoon, something he never before told police.
Smart said that having been a victim of gun violence, he lost his cool. He said he “panicked and freaked out and pulled my gun from my waist,” and began firing. “I went after the car with a mix of fear and anger, and seeing red.”
pc28police arrest Jahwayne Smart and Rashawn Chambers on Nov. 9, 2020.
It was fight or flight, he explained several times.
“I didn’t want to kill or hurt nobody, I just wanted to scare them.”
During cross-examination, Clement played surveillance video capturing some of what happened from a distance — video that he told Smart “contradicts what you’re saying.”
The video shows Smart and Chambers walking towards the “kids’ car.” As soon as it starts moving to escape, Clement said, “you and Chambers start running with guns raised.” The audio from another video captures a burst of gunfire that sounds like news footage from a war zone.
Smart, who watched the video on a computer monitor mounted beside him in the witness box, said he saw himself reacting to “a gun pointed at me.”
He added: “The camera shows things in a way” that differs from “when you’re in the moment and things are playing out.”
Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett told jurors the evidence portion of the trial is coming to an end and they should expect to hear closing arguments next week.
Hobbs’s lawyer has told the jury he will not call any evidence, and so the court won’t be hearing from his client.
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