THUNDER BAY – Sentencing for two men who have pleaded guilty for their roles in a 2016 homicide case has been pushed back two weeks.
Clinton Netemegesic and Cecil Matinet, who had been arrested and charged after 18-year-old Brent Donio was stabbed to death outside the Windsor Street housing complex on July 13, 2016, both appeared in court on Friday for a sentencing hearing.
Police at the time said emergency services were called to the area to respond to a fight involving three men. Donio was taken by paramedics to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Crown prosecutor Gordon Fillmore and their defence lawyers presented joint sentencing submissions but Ontario Court Justice Chantal Brochu said she was not ready to make a judgment on Friday, adjourning the case to June 14.
The pair, who had each been charged with one count of second degree murder, pleaded guilty to lesser offences earlier this year.
Netemegesic pleaded guilty to manslaughter, with Fillmore and his defence lawyer Gil Labine making a joint submission seeking a 10-year sentence. After factoring in credit for time served, he would spend an additional six years and 10 months in prison.
Matinet pleaded down to aggravated assault, with Fillmore and his defence lawyer David Bruzzese recommending a sentence of one day less time served. He had served 524 days behind bars from July 2016 to December 2017, and received credit for two years and 56 days in pre-sentence custody.
Brochu acknowledged it was a serious matter that carries with it a serious penalty and said it was important to prepare a decision with proper reasons.
Labine, who is representing Netemegesic, asked for a three-to-one custody credit during the delay.
“He is anxious to get out of there,” Labine said, adding conditions at the Thunder Bay District Jail are “extreme” and “really intolerable,” particularly since May 1 when Netemegesic has been housed in a cell with three other inmates.
