A 28-year-old criminal who shot a friend in broad daylight in Repentigny in 2021 due to a love triangle will receive eight years in prison because he represents “a real danger to society”.
• Also read: Attempted murder in Repentigny: the suspect was arrested
“The streets of a peaceful neighborhood can and should never become the scene of explosive rivalries. There are legitimate ways to resolve a conflict that has become invasive,” said Judge Éric Côté at the Joliette courthouse.
He therefore sentenced Jeffrey Dimundu-Bellevue to eight years in prison for firing a firearm at Alexandre Graham in September 2021 with the intent to endanger his life. Due to his pre-trial detention, he currently has around four and a half years left in prison.
Hit by gunfire while jogging
On the day of the tragedy, Alexandre Graham went jogging in his neighborhood. On his way, he passed the defendant's house “without ever stopping there,” he assured the court.
When he was on a sidewalk on Rue de la Matapédia around 5:15 p.m., the 36-year-old saw an SUV quickly approaching. The latter was driven by Maria Komarova, the defendant's partner.
“When the vehicle stopped near him, the defendant pointed a firearm and fired three projectiles in his direction from the passenger window,” the recent sentencing decision states.
While the victim rushed towards the defendant to take the weapon from his hand, a projectile hit him in the right arm. Dimundu-Bellevue fired one last time in his direction even though he was on the ground.
Rue de la Matapédia in Repentigny was cordoned off by police after Alexandre Graham was shot on September 26, 2021. Archive Thierry Laforce / Agence QMI
Love triangle
According to the court, it is “a love triangle, a story about a heart gone wrong.”
Dimundu-Bellevue and his victim had been known for around ten years. They were even friends until the defendant left his then-pregnant partner and she started seeing Mr Graham.
“Shortly after the birth of the child, a bitter atmosphere developed between the two men, so that at the time of the events they were not yet in the first arguments,” explained Judge Côté.
At the time of the crime, the victim assumed that the defendant was “having an extramarital relationship with.” [la femme au cœur de la chicane]who had not had a relationship with the victim for only three months,” said Dimundu-Bellevue’s guilty plea.
Run
Only after three days on the run did the defendant surrender to the police so that they could arrest him. The Repentigny police then issued a search notice to find the defendant, who they considered to be “armed and dangerous.”
Since his youth, Dimundu-Bellevue had no fewer than 20 previous convictions for violence, weapons and drug offenses, which earned him prison sentences lasting several months.
These sentences “appear to have had little impact on the defendant's behavior,” the pre-sentence report said.
In this case, the Crown was asking for nine to 10 years in prison, while the defense was hoping for four to six years.
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