Couple was ‘collateral damage’ in ‘criminal underworld’: Crown

The daughter of a Brantford couple ambushed and shot dead in their home spoke to their killer in a Hamilton courtroom on Friday.

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“Five years ago, your reckless action and sheer disregard for life turned my world upside down and ruined my life,” their daughter told Malik Mbuyi, who was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in April. “It’s bad enough to lose both one parent but to lose at the same time on the same day in such a horrific way was devastating.

“Having to look at you and the others for months at a time has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. All I ask, judge, is that you don’t let another one slip through the cracks and give him the sentence he deserves.”

While a total of seven men were charged in connection to the July 18, 2019 murders, Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman determined Mbuyi was the gunman seen running up to the home on Park Road South with a gun pointed toward the front door, firing wildly at Larry Reynolds, 64, who was watering some newly seeded front lawn.

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Reynolds was able to stumble into the house, followed by his wife, Lynn VanEvery, 62, who slammed and locked the door, but the gunman aimed multiple shots at the doors, hitting VanEvery in the head.

Both died within minutes of each other.

“(Mbuyi) shot VanEvery at close range through the window of the front door,” said the Crown. “The bullet tore through her head and killed her instantly. (Mbuyi) then emptied his pistol at Larry who was lying on the floor.

“Larry and Lynn were totally innocent. They had no involvement with the criminal underworld that Mr. Mbuyi inhabited yet they became the collateral damage of that violent world when he crashed into their lives and destroyed them.”

Mbuyi, who was 18 at the time of the shootings, pleaded not guilty to the double homicide and a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

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The judge declined to find Mbuyi guilty of first-degree murder or conspiracy to commit murder, suggesting he believed Kareem Zedan.

Zedan, another member of the crew, testified he didn’t tell the others beforehand about a contract for $50,000 he took to kill the couple’s son, Roger VanEvery, an admitted drug dealer in Brantford.

Zedan pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Mbuyi’s second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence, with parole eligibility of between 10 to 25 years.

During a submission in Hamilton court on Friday, the Crown asked that Mbuyi have no chance of parole for 22 to 25 years, arguing he is a “dangerous and persistent criminal from whom the public must be protected.”

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The Crown said that while Mbuyi had no criminal record at the time of the murders, he received a firearm conviction 45 days after the killing. The Crown also said Mbuyi has racked up 16 “institutional misconducts” since he has been in jail, including those for beating other inmates and assaulting correctional staff.

Mbuyi’s lawyer, Monte MacGregor, is asking that his client be eligible for parole within 16 to 20 years, arguing that he has a chance at rehabilitation.

“At 18, with no criminal record, do you throw him away from here?” MacGregor asked the judge.

VanEvery’s sister-in-law read from her victim impact statement on Friday. She said Reynolds and VanEvery were “good everyday people” who had been together for 35 years. She said they were good parents who continued to support their son through his “repeated brushes with the law.”

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She said the family was “kept in the dark as to why the murders happened” for nearly two years.

“We were unsure if we were safe in our own homes,” she said. “Can you imagine how it feels to think you might be next?”

VanEvery’s sister-in-law said the family managed to have a “private and secret” memorial for Reynolds and VanEvery about a month after their murders.

“Hundreds cam. But the killer was still out there. Everyone there was afraid.

“Families, neighbors, the whole community has suffered. You wiped away all sense of security we might have had. Do we have to look over our shoulders until the day we die?”

The double homicide has been moving through various courts for years with Terrell Philbert, Thomy Baez-Eusebio and Dylan Alridge all pleading guilty to conspiring to commit an unspeakable offense with a firearm. Philbert was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, while Baez-Eusebio and Alridge got time-served sentences of 29 and 30 months.

Salloum Jassem, who was accused of offering the contract on the life of Roger VanEvery, was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiring to commit murder. He died in August in Maplehurst Correctional Center awaiting trial on another murder charge.

The judge will rule on Mbuyi’s sentencing on Nov. 14 starting at 11 am in Hamilton court.

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