And Justice for All? -- by Anne Shier

(Inspired by an article in the Toronto Sun, May 2012)

The man who senselessly killed a mother’s beloved son is out enjoying this lovely spring weekend in the brilliant sun.  Jacques “Junior” Amakon is happily continuing his tattoo business and spending quality time with his family.  Why?

For the dead boy’s mother, however, it was bad enough that Amakon’s been out on bail for almost two years awaiting his trial.  Even now that he’s finally been tried and convicted last week of manslaughter, he still remains as free as a bird.  Why?

Rhonda Corby, the slain boy’s mother, will never understand why, and who could blame her?  But then, she hasn’t been able to comprehend much of what has transpired since her only child was viciously stabbed to death two years ago. 

“Honestly, “, she said recently, “I feel like my deep hatred for him has been overshadowed by my even deeper hatred for this ridiculous judicial system.”

Her son, Mike “Biggie” McDonald, was knifed to death at a crowded bus stop across from Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School on March 30, 2010.  The popular 6-foot-1, 280-pound football player, just a month shy of his 17^th birthday, had had a turbulent history with Amakon.  Both had been kicked out of school for a separate incident the month before the slaying, with McDonald permanently expelled and Amakon suspended, but later allowed to return.

Their rematch would have fatal results.  In a brawl caught on cell phone video by several of the students who were gathered there, the two rivals could be seen adopting a fighting stance.  After McDonald kicked him in the groin and threw a punch, Amakon swung back fatally with a knife.  McDonald then crumpled to the ground, dead from a direct wound to the heart.

At first charged with second-degree murder, Amakon testified that the stabbing was a very unfortunate accident, that he’d only pulled the knife in self-defense.  Prosecutor Sandip Khehrah accused him of challenging McDonald to a fight earlier in the day and coming armed with a kitchen knife. 

Last Friday, after a day and a half of deliberations, the jury acquitted Amakon of murder and instead convicted the 20-year-old on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Ms. Corby deliberately avoided attending Amakon’s 5-week trial that had begun in April 2012.

“He killed my only child,” explained the 41-year-old mother, “I think it was better for me to stay away.  There is no way I could have borne being in the same room with that murderer.”

But, when she learned the verdict was finally coming though, she came to the courthouse and waited in a separate room.  It fell to her good friend, Tina Thomas, to deliver the terrible news:  the jury did not accept that her son had been murdered.  Why?

“It was probably the worst thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Thomas recalls just after she delivered the bad news to her friend.

But then, it got worse.  The Crown Attorney asked the court to immediately revoke the $100,000 bail Amakon had been on since the summer of 2010.  But, Superior Court Justice Michael Brown postponed his decision, deciding instead to have a hearing on the matter on May 24^th.

Rhonda Corby ran crying from the building.

“I wanted to see Amakon being taken out in handcuffs.  I figured if you’re guilty, you go straight to jail.  I don’t know of anyone convicted of manslaughter that is still walking the streets.  I don’t understand it…..I don’t understand it,” she sobbed over and over.

Her incomprehension continued after Thursday’s hearing, in which the judge refused to revoke Amakon’s bail, saying that the now convicted killer had always abided by his bail conditions and, as a result, could remain free until his sentencing on June 25^th. Justice Brown insisted his decision indicated no disrespect for the victim or his family.  But, how could it not?

“He’s still out,” Ms. Corby says incredulously.  “People are asking, ‘How can this happen?’  But, I have no answers.  None at all.”

Every step of the way, she feels her son’s killer has had incredible luck on his side:  from initially getting bail over her objections, to his avoiding a murder conviction despite a video that she believed proved otherwise, and now his enjoyment of this next month of freedom prior to sentencing.

Thus, Rhonda Corby is done with the justice system.  In fact, she is so disillusioned that she doesn’t even want to prepare a victim impact statement for Amakon’s sentencing.  She is certain that her endless pain will have absolutely no effect on the term he is given.  “It’s a complete waste of my time,” she says. Especially when she is convinced that the scales of justice are only meant to tip his way.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier - to be published in book format in the future (hard cover, soft cover, e-book / audio book)