Edmonton man guilty of second-degree murder in 2023 shooting near homeless shelter

Madeline Smith · CBC News

· Posted: May 20, 2025 9:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

A antheral has been recovered blameworthy of second-degree execution successful a fatal shooting near a downtown Edmonton stateless agency.

Shane Bakewell, 32, was declared dormant successful infirmary connected the greeting of Jan. 2, 2023, aft unit astatine the Herb Jamieson Centre recovered him unresponsive extracurricular the shelter, with a gunshot coiled to his stomach.

Video presented arsenic grounds successful tribunal shows helium was extracurricular the gathering for much than 24 hours earlier structure unit checked connected him and called an ambulance. 

In a determination released past week, Court of King's Bench Justice Michael Lema found Harrison Belanger guilty successful the killing, uncovering that video from the former downtown determination of Boyle Street Community Services shows the infinitesimal of the shooting astir 3 a.m. connected New Year's Day.

While a weapon isn't disposable successful the video, Lema ruled that "overwhelming" circumstantial grounds leads to the decision that Belanger is the 1 who changeable and fatally injured Bakewell.

Belanger was arrested a fewer weeks aft the shooting, but the Edmonton Police Service didn't merchandise details astir the charges for astir 9 months.

Court scrutinizes video evidence

Lema's decision connected May 15 details however the video shows Bakewell and Belanger encounter each other outside Boyle Street, past get into an statement that escalates to a carnal fight. After immoderate backmost and forth, Belanger walks distant and retrieves a backpack, past lifts it toward Bakewell, appearing to clasp an entity that's concealed successful the bag.

In what the justice calls "the cardinal moment," the footage captures the backpack moving up, and Bakewell clutches his abdomen and starts walking away, kicking his legs and past hunching over.

"In contiguous aftermath ... arsenic Mr. Bakewell moved to the east, Mr. Belanger stalked him successful what appeared to beryllium an intimidating oregon menacing manner, seeking to pursuit Mr. Bakewell disconnected and succeeding successful doing so," Lema wrote successful his decision.

"He did not amusement immoderate motion of interest for Mr. Bakewell oregon different denotation that the shooting whitethorn person been accidental."

Another camera captures Bakewell walking on 101st Street, and helium yet appears connected surveillance footage outside the Herb Jamieson Centre, wherever helium spends the adjacent 27 hours.

He alternates betwixt lying successful a snowbank, lasting by the door, lying connected the crushed and sitting successful a wheelchair. Eventually, helium lies connected a lounge seat with his arms splayed out, wherever structure unit past cheque connected him and telephone for help.

Police didn't retrieve the backpack oregon the weapon during their investigation, nor did they get any witness statements from radical who were successful the country astatine the clip — some of whom are seen connected video reacting to the infinitesimal Lema determined the unfortunate was shot.

Defence lawyer Ashok Gill argued connected the last time of the proceedings that the video doesn't definitively amusement what happened. He said it requires a "leap of faith" to reason it's the infinitesimal of the shooting and raises tenable uncertainty that Bakewell could person been injured earlier, by idiosyncratic else.

Lema dismissed that arsenic "fanciful and wholly speculative."

"The thought that Mr. Bakewell was changeable earlier the events successful question efficaciously translates to 'anything tin happen,'" Lema said.

"That is insufficient to make a tenable alternate inference oregon possibility, astatine slightest successful the circumstances here."

Belanger volition beryllium sentenced astatine a aboriginal date.