Man found guilty in shooting death of 17-year-old

“I HAVE CHOSEN TO PAINT THE LIFE OF MY PEOPLE AS I KNOW AND FEEL IT–PASSIONATELY AND DISPASSIONATELY. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE ARTIST IDENTIFY WITH THE SELF-RELIANCE,HOPE AND COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE ABOUT HIM,FOR ART MUST ALWAYS GO WHERE ENERGY IS.”
–ROMARE BEARDON

 

Boris Cikovic was 17 when he was shot the night of Oct. 3, 2008.

Peter Small Courts Bureau

A jury has convicted a young man of manslaughter in the shooting of a 17-year-old during a gang robbery in a west Toronto park.
Dressed in a blue suit and his head shaved, Nahor Araya grimaced Friday as the Ontario Superior Court jury foreman delivered the verdict after 11 hours of deliberations.
The tension-filled courtroom was crowded with opposed camps: Araya’s family and supporters and those of the popular victim, Boris Cikovic.
More than 14 police and court officers provided security, while Justice John McMahon warned spectators he would not tolerate outbursts.
Araya’s mother collapsed in the hallway and was taken away in an ambulance.
On the night of Oct. 3, 2008, three or four young masked men robbed a large group of teenagers relaxing in Buttonwood Park, near Eglinton Ave. and Scarlett Rd. One of the men shot Cikovic.
Araya, 21, was not alleged to be the gunman, but Crown prosecutors Patrick Travers and Sarah Leece argued he was guilty of second-degree murder by being one of the robbers.
No other suspects have been arrested.
Araya’s former high school teacher, Cordel Browne, had testified that four days after the shooting Araya confessed he was with the robbers but insisted he was not the gunman.
“I didn’t have the gun . . . I did not shoot this kid,” Browne recalled Araya telling him.
Browne advised Araya to turn himself in. The teacher then reported the conversation to the school principal, which led to Araya’s arrest.
Araya took the stand to say the teacher misunderstood him, that he was in fact describing another robbery, at a plaza, not the one at the park where the shooting took place.
On the night Cikovic died, Araya insisted, he was eight kilometres away — at a friend’s house with his girlfriend smoking pot.
Outside court, Cikovic’s parents said they were disappointed in the verdict.
“This is one small piece of justice,” said his father, Davorin Cikovic.
“I’m not happy,” said Cikovic’s mother, Vesna, adding she hoped police will catch the other robbers.
Defence lawyer Stacey Nichols said she was disappointed Araya was not acquitted.
Travers said the prosecution respects the jury’s decision.
Toronto homicide Det.-Sgt. Steve Ryan said he thought manslaughter was the right verdict based on the evidence at trial.