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The prosecutor noted that Akong Yves Fonbah was on probation when he killed George Riches and had exited a jail just five weeks prior to the homicide.
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Akong Yves Fonbah, the man recently convicted of murdering a 75-year-old LaSalle resident because the victim’s son owed him money for crack cocaine, might have to serve more than the minimum amount of time behind bars before he becomes eligible for parole.
On March 4, a jury who heard evidence in Fonbah’s trial at the Montreal courthouse emerged with a verdict and found the 30-year-old guilty of second-degree murder in the death of George Riches.
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The conviction came with an automatic life sentence. Superior Court Justice Éliane Perreault, the presiding judge in the trial, has been left to determine how long Fonbah should serve before he is eligible for a release. The minimum is 10 years and the maximum is 25.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Philippe Vallières-Roland argued Fonbah should be required to serve at least 18 years. He noted that Fonbah was tried on a charge of first-degree murder and argued the homicide involved elements of premeditation that made it “a quasi first-degree murder.”
The prosecutor noted that Fonbah was on probation when he killed Riches and had exited a jail just five weeks prior to the homicide.
Vallières-Roland also noted how Fonbah has been a frequent problem for authorities while he was detained as a suspect in the homicide. On Nov. 11, he slapped a prison guard in the face while holding excrement in his hand.
On Sept. 12, 2021, Riches was struck on the forehead with a baseball bat with such force that it cracked his skull and split open the victim’s skin. The prosecution argued the evidence showed Fonbah broke into the victim’s home on Jean-Milot St. and struck Riches with the bat once. The Crown’s theory of the case was that Fonbah, a crack dealer, wanted to send a message to Riches’s son, Kenny, because he owed Fonbah money.
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Riches died in a hospital a few days after he was struck.
“He was a sick, elderly man who was sleeping on his couch in his living room and had absolutely nothing to do with the initial dispute between Kenny Riches and Mr. Fonbah,” Vallières-Roland said.
When Kenny Riches testified, he said he lived in the same apartment as his father and was looking after him. He also said he was consuming crack with friends in his bedroom when he heard the blow delivered to his father’s head. He told the jury that when he opened the bedroom door he saw Fonbah standing near his father with the murder weapon in his hands.
Defence lawyer Carine Njonang argued the homicide was closer to a manslaughter case than one involving a first-degree murder conviction. She asked that Fonbah’s period of parole ineligibility be set at somewhere between 10 and 12 years.
She said the jury’s verdict indicates it accepted the evidence that Fonbah threatened Kenny Riches before he came to his home, but did not believe her client went there with the intention of carrying out a planned and deliberate homicide.
At least three men accompanied Fonbah when he went to the apartment and there was no evidence presented at trial that Fonbah told them he planned to kill someone, the attorney said.
“It is a crime that will have enormous consequences (for Riches’s family),” Njonang said while referring to a victim impact statement from Riches’s granddaughter who said she has been unable to return to work since learning of the homicide. “It should not come with a disproportionate condemnation on the moral responsibility of the offender and the gravity of the offence.”
Perreault will deliver her decision on the sentence in April.
pcherry@postmedia.com
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