The family of Darius Brown say they putting their faith in God and the courts to get justice for their 17-year-old son—killed a month ago in Cote-St-Luc—but it will be never make up for the injustice already done.
“For us, really, Darius—our son—has already been sentenced. There's already been an injustice. So if we ask for justice, there's already been an injustice. Our son is gone. Seventeen years old is just too young to be gone and there’s no way it can be overturned or debated,” said his father, Stephen Hennessy.
The family remains upset over how police handled the preliminary investigation. Originally, police incorrectly reported Darius was wounded in a robbery gone wrong, with him as the suspect.
They are also remembering the impact Darius' life had on those around him.
“He's touched so many people and it's across race, across age—and it's so amazing to see people love him like I did. And he deserved that because that's the life he lived,” said the late teen's mother, Roxanne Brown.
"At the community centre where we worked, he was a councillor, he took care of Westhaven's turtle," added Hennessy, who said his son had just begun coaching basketball to younger kids and was excited to share his passion and knowledge of the game.
The family was in court as the lawyer for the teenager charged with their son's murder pushed to have the accused released on bail. While a minor at the time of the murder, the man has since turned 18. He will be tried in youth court, but could possibly face an adult sentence.
“I don't believe the circumstances of this case warrant [that],” said defence lawyer Andrew Barbacki. “Close to 18 is not 18 and he was a youth when the offence, the charges, the incident occurred.”
The accused is in court next week for a preliminary hearing before discussing bail, and Hennessy vows the family will be monitoring the case throughout.
“If it wasn't for [us doing] that, maybe the situation would be written off as just another black youth that has been lost his life in the streets,” he surmised.