A Maple Ridge, B.C., man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years after he killed a woman and seriously injured another man in a July 2022 shooting.
Justin Michael Wareing was sentenced on Friday in B.C. Supreme Court for second-degree murder in the death of Cashmere Ali, 35, and the attempted murder of Matthew Whitty.
Justice Murray Blok wrote in a sentencing decision that Wareing shot Ali and Whitty at a home on the 22600-block of 119 Avenue that was known to be a “a hangout for users of illicit drugs.”
Wareing had received information that suggested Whitty had withheld money from an armed robbery at a drug dealer’s home that the two had conducted two days prior, according to the decision.
It said on July 15, Whiteing arrived at the house with a 3D-printed semi-automatic gun. Ali and Whitty, who were in a relationship, were seated on a couch in the house’s living room.
“In the living room [Wareing] pulled up a chair so that it faced the couch and, on Mr. Wareing’s evidence, he proceeded to confront Mr. Whitty about owing him money,” the decision reads. “On Mr. Whitty’s evidence, Mr. Wareing confronted him about ‘talking s–t’ to others about Mr. Wareing.”
After an argument, both men disagree on what happened next.
Whitty says Wareing shot him in the knee, then fatally shot Ali in the head.
Cashmere Ali, 35, was shot dead at the house where Wareing and Whitty had an argument, the judge’s decision read. (Submitted by IHIT)
Wareing claimed to the court that he stood up to leave after the argument, heard a shot behind him, and then swivelled and “shot up the living room.”
While Wareing’s defence lawyers argued for the existence of the prior gunshot, the judge determined its existence had not been established on a balance of probabilities.
Whitty suffered serious injuries after being shot multiple times. Ali was initially kept alive by paramedics, but she later died in hospital.
Crown lawyers argued for Wareing to receive life in prison with no parole eligibility for 18 years, as well as 20 years for the attempted murder of Whitty.
Defence counsel argued for life in prison without parole eligibility for 13 years, and 12 to 14 years in prison for the attempted murder.
Blok noted Wareing had an extensive prior criminal record before the murder, having been subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition after numerous armed robberies.
The judge also noted that Wareing had stabbed another inmate multiple times at North Fraser Pretrial Centre while in pre-trial custody.
“In my view, the appropriate range of sentence here for attempted murder is 12 to 14 years. The sentence I impose is 13 years,” wrote the judge.
Wareing is also subject to a lifetime firearms prohibition and has been ordered not to contact Whitty or another witness to the crime.