Eight years, animal ban for shooter who injured two, killed dog in 2021

A judge sentenced Terry St. Hill to eight years in prison and banned him from owning animals for life in a Chatham shooting that injured two people and killed a dog in January 2021.

Ontario Court Justice Paul Kowalyshn passed sentence Thursday on St. Hill, 22, who appeared in a Chatham court by video link from Central North Correctional Center in Penetanguishene.

St. Hill was originally charged with three counts of attempted murder after firing a gun at three people and a dog outside a Harvey Street home in Chatham on Jan. 26, 2021. Two people were hurt and the dog was killed.

He pleaded guilty in May 2022 to killing a dog willfully and without lawful cause.

Then in September 2022, he pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to injure three people and possessing a firearm while prohibited..

One victim suffered a “grazing gunshot wound” to the chest and a teenage victim was shot in the wrist and required surgery to treat broken bones.

Given a chance to speak before sentencing, St. Hill apologized to the victims.

“To say I’m sorry would be an understatement,” he said. “I’m disgusted with myself for doing what I did to the people I considered to be my friends not long before.”

St. Hill said he thinks about what the experience must have been like for the victims.

“I know I caused a lot of pain, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well,” he said. “For everything I put you all through, I truly am sorry and I ask that you please look into your hearts and maybe one day try to forgive.”

“It is fortunate that Mr. St. Hill is such a poor shot,” or he could have faced more serious charges and much more time in jail, Kowalyshn said during sentencing.

According to the statement of facts, St. Hill was under two weapons bans and on parole when he and four other people drove to Chatham from out of town to confront the victims over a dispute that began online.

“It must have been terrifying for the (victims) to see Mr. St. Hill pull the gun out of the satchel, then wait to find out if they were going to live or die,” the judge said.

It was a planned act, he added, rejecting St. Hill’s claim in a pre-sentence report that he was with the wrong crowd and it wasn’t supposed to happen that way.

“This incident was not something that just happened,” the judge said. “Mr. St. Hill made it happen.”

Noting the defense was seeking a five-and-a-half year sentence for the firearm offence, slightly above the five-year minimum, Kowalyshn imposed a sentence of seven years.

The judge also imposed a consecutive one-year sentence for the weapon possession count..

He added a one-year concurrent award for the “cowardly and callous” killing of the dog.

Noting laws have changed to reflect that “harming animals amounts to hurting everyone,” the judge said St. Hill “snuffed out” the dog’s life like it didn’t matter.”

He added the dog mattered to its owner, who considered it family.

Kowalashyn also imposed a lifetime weapons ban and made an order under Section 447.1 of the Criminal Code barring St. Hill from owning, having custody or control of or living in the same premises as an animal or bird for life.

St. Hill, who’s been in custody since his arrest on a Canada-wide warrant in Thunder Bay on May 6, 2021, received 1,060 days credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, meaning he has just over five years left to serve.

Four others also initially faced three counts of attempted murder in the shooting.

Two males, who were young offenders at the time, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of aggravated assault in September 2022 and were sentenced to time served.

Charges against two others were drawn.