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A man who played a leading role in a home invasion that led to the death of a Rwandan refugee living in Montreal seven years ago was sentenced Tuesday to a nine-year prison term.
On Feb. 22, Shamora Robertson, 37, was convicted of manslaughter by a jury in the death of Gilbert Nshimiyumukiza, a 22-year-old who was shot inside his apartment in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough on April 30, 2016. The victim arrived in Canada in 2009. He feared his life was in danger because of the genocide taking place in Rwanda. At the age of six, his parents had been pulled from the family’s home and shot dead by a Hutu paramilitary squad.
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He was killed in Montreal over a small drug debt.
While reading from his decision on the sentence at the Montreal courthouse, Superior Court Justice James Brunton said Robertson was the head of a group of four men who showed up at Nshimiyumukiza’s apartment on Grenet St. demanding an amount of money that was not mentioned during the trial. Nshimiyumukiza was shot in the head and his roommate was assaulted with a baseball bat.
In 2018, two other men admitted they were also part of the home invasion. Jermaine Gero, the man who fired the shot, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and automatically received a life sentence. Nikita Hunt pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to a nine-year prison term. According to a statement of facts read into the court record when Hunt and Gero pleaded guilty six years ago, the cannabis debt Robertson was seeking to collect on was small.
The fourth man who took part in the home invasion was never identified. During Robertson’s trial, the fourth man was described as the person who assaulted Nshimiyumukiza’s roommate with the baseball bat.
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It took years for Robertson’s case to proceed because, two days after the homicide, he travelled to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where he lived with his mother until he was arrested in 2022.
Prosecutors Geneviève Rondeau and Marianna Ferraro asked that Robertson receive a 12-year sentence while defence lawyer James Dawson argued the circumstances of his client’s case meant Robertson merited a sentence in a range between five and nine years.
Robertson’s mother testified during the sentencing stage of the case and said her son suffered a serious head injury as an infant.
“This has had an impact on his cognitive abilities for his entire life. As a youth, he suffered from headaches and leg spasms, which eventually led to him abandoning sports activities,” Brunton said while summarizing the mother’s testimony. “He was challenged as a student and demonstrated difficulty in concentrating.
“As an adult, his parents felt it was best that he stay at home.”
The judge said Robertson’s cognitive problems became evident during the trial and were a factor in determining the sentence.
“He is an anxious and fearful individual. Fearful in the sense that he appears to believe that there is a hidden dark agenda devoted to causing him harm for any statement or action proposed which could have an impact on him,” Brunton said. “He is certainly intelligent, but it is necessary to slowly and repeatedly explain notions to him before he fully understands.”
Brunton also said he decided to sentence Robertson to the same amount of time as Hunt because the latter was found to be in possession of the revolver used to kill Nshimiyumukiza when he was arrested and therefore played a role that was as serious as Robertson’s.
With time served factored into the sentence, Robertson is left with a prison term of more than 76 months as of Tuesday.
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