‘Reckless disregard for life’: Judge sentences man to 15 years for Maple Ridge killing

A Lower Mainland man who admitted to a series of violent firearm offences – including a fatal shooting in Maple Ridge – has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

On April 1, BC Supreme Court Justice Eric Gottardi accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence counsels for sentencing 27-year-old Alexander Kyle Delair for a 2024 crime spree involving shootings in Maple Ridge and Abbotsford.

“This sentence reflects the court’s clear denunciation of the kind of intentional violence and reckless disregard for the life of Mr. Evans that was shown here,” Gottardi said.

Delair, 27, pleaded guilty to four offences arising from incidents in the spring and summer of 2024: manslaughter with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent to wound, and possession of a prohibited firearm.

The most serious offence involved the death of Dustin Evans on May 31, 2024, at the intersection of Lougheed Highway and 223 Street in Maple Ridge.

According to the agreed statement of facts summarized in court, Delair shot Evans once in the head after the two men encountered each other and became involved in a fight. The shooting occurred in broad daylight at a busy intersection.

Gottardi said the case fell near the upper end of the sentencing range for manslaughter involving firearms.

“I find that the circumstances in relation to the manslaughter of Dustin Evans are much closer to acts of deliberate criminal activity rather than foolish misadventure,” he said. “I agree with the Crown that the facts of this case approximate what some courts have described as near murder.”

The court heard the Maple Ridge shooting was followed weeks later by another violent firearm offence in Abbotsford.

On July 11, 2024, Delair went to a residence in Abbotsford where Jonathan Brault was shot once in the leg before Delair fled with cash stolen from the home. Delair later pleaded guilty to robbery while using a restricted or prohibited firearm and discharging a firearm with intent to wound, maim or disfigure.

Gottardi agreed with Crown counsel that the robbery and shooting constituted a “single endeavour,” making concurrent sentences appropriate for those offences.

The judge noted, however, that Delair’s “moral culpability for this offence is high.”

Police arrested Delair less than two weeks later, on July 23, 2024, while he was carrying a loaded nine-millimetre semi-automatic handgun in the waistband of his pants. The firearm was identified as the same weapon used in the Abbotsford shooting.

The court heard Delair had no prior criminal record despite the severity of the offences.

Defence counsel told the court Delair experienced significant trauma early in life, including his parents’ separation and the death of his mother from cancer while he was still young. The court also heard he eventually developed a fentanyl addiction.

Gottardi noted Delair’s father had made significant efforts to help him overcome his addiction and continue supporting his rehabilitation, while his older brother and partner also remained committed to helping him reintegrate into society following his incarceration.

The judge said those supports, along with Delair’s relative youth, gave him “reasonable prospects for rehabilitation.”

Still, Gottardi emphasized the devastating and irreversible consequences of the offences.

The court heard an emotional victim impact statement from Evans’ mother, Debbie Evans, who spoke about the profound emotional, physical and professional toll caused by the loss of her son.

“There is no greater loss than the loss experienced by a parent whose child is taken from them,” Gottardi said.

The joint submission proposed separate sentences of 10 years for manslaughter, five years for the Abbotsford shooting and robbery offences, and 30 months for possessing the prohibited firearm. The lawyers proposed a global sentence of 15 years.

Gottardi said sentencing judges must give substantial deference to joint submissions unless the proposed sentence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

“Put another way, I cannot conclude that this sentence is ‘so unhinged from the circumstances of the offence and the offender’ that its acceptance would lead reasonable people ‘to believe that the proper functioning of the justice system had broken down.’”

Delair received credit for time already spent in custody since his arrest on July 23, 2024. The court credited him with 927 days toward his sentence, leaving 4,548 days – roughly 12 and a half years – still to serve.

The court also imposed a lifetime firearms prohibition, ordered Delair to provide a DNA sample for the national databank, and ordered the forfeiture of the firearms involved in the offences.