Drug dealer sentenced to life for ‘excruciating’ Toronto murder — and life means life, judge adds

Leonard Pinnock was earning extra cash in high school washing pots and pans around the same age Akil Whyte was carrying a loaded handgun.

And while Pinnock studied business in college and was determined to be successful, Whyte was selling cocaine and amassing three convictions for firearms possession by the time he was 20, a Toronto courtroom heard Tuesday.

On April 21, 2017, six months after his release from prison, Whyte and an unknown accomplice shot 33-year-old Pinnock to death as he sat in a car waiting for a friend in a Dufferin Street plaza. The reason remains a mystery.

Earlier this spring, Whyte was convicted of first-degree murder following a judge-alone trial. On Tuesday, court heard victim impact statements from Pinnock's relatives describing the excruciating" pain of losing the hard-working, loving, creative and compassionate" hair stylist and DJ, who lived in Hamilton and was father to a little girl.

Before imposing the mandatory life sentence, Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden sought to dispel misconceptions about what that means and how the parole system works in light of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in the case of Quebec mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette.

In its unanimous ruling eliminating the possibility that judges can impose consecutive sentences in cases of multiple murderers, the high court highlighted the fact that a life sentence already means life.

Bawden explained: It is true he (Whyte) will be able to apply for parole 25 years after the day of his arrest, but even if he is successful in obtaining parole, he would still be serving his life sentence, just under different conditions."

A life sentence remains in effect until the offender's death, added the judge - Contrary to popular belief, a person on parole is not a free man."

Whyte was on the run for several years and arrested in Atlanta on Aug. 6, 2019, so he will not be eligible to apply for parole until 2044, when he is 52. Even then it is by no means certain he will be released. Few violent offenders who apply for parole at their first opportunity are successful.

Much will depend on he behaves while behind bars," Bawden said.

While not every convicted killer represents a grave danger to re-offend, Whyte clearly does present such a risk," the judge added, citing the firearm possession convictions on his criminal record and the execution-style killing of Pinnock, caught by a surveillance camera.

Akil Whyte truly does represent a serious danger to the public (and the sentence) which I impose today is a necessary and just one," the judge said.

Given the opportunity to speak, Whyte reiterated what he testified to at trial - that he was innocent but sorry the murder happened because no one should die that way.

Betsy Powell is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and courts for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @powellbetsy