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News Calgary Crime Opinion Columnist
According to an agreed statement of facts filed by the Crown in Calgary’s King’s Bench court on Monday, Stallone-Claire and drinking buddy Chad Merasty decided they wanted cocaine but didn’t want to pay for it.
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No one deserves to die a violent death.
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However, participating in illegal activities can make you much more likely to become a victim of violence.
So was Calgary native Stallone Clare, who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery of a drug dealer in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2023.
According to a statement of facts of the agreement filed by the Crown in Calgary’s King’s Bench court on Monday, Claire and her drinking buddy Chad Merasty decided they wanted cocaine but didn’t want to pay for it.
Around 3:30 a.m., Samiul Islam Turzo arrived outside a residence on Ranchero Road NW, where the two were socializing to facilitate the sale of crack cocaine.
However, the deal quickly turned sour when Merasty entered Turzo’s car and took the passenger seat, while Claire tried to approach the drug dealer in the driver’s seat of the car.
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“They both attacked Tarzo and attempted to overpower him,” prosecutor Ron Simenik told Judge Glenn Pohlman.
During the ensuing struggle, Truzo was able to reach for a loaded .22 caliber Luger handgun and shot Claire in the chest and Melasti in the shoulder.
Truzo was scheduled to go on trial this week on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Claire, who collapsed and died a short distance from her attacker’s car, but the Crown has entered a defense on a different charge.
Defense lawyer Balfour Darr said his client intended to plead guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a loaded restricted handgun.
Pohlman accepted a joint submission that the Calgary man, who at one point fled the country shortly after the shooting and was arrested on murder charges three months later, be sentenced to three years in prison for the murder charge.
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Prosecutors acknowledged that Truzo acted in self-defense when he shot Clare to death and injured Merasty, who later died of an unrelated drug overdose.
Claire’s family, who attended the hearing in Calgary, were not satisfied with the plea deal.
Family matriarch Toni McCune, who was the deceased man’s great-aunt and was more like a grandmother to him, said that even though her loved one who died was not the victim of a car accident, Mr. He was allowed to submit a victim impact statement with his consent. crime.
McCune eloquently described the tragic impact Claire’s death had on her entire extended family, including her mother, whom she had raised like her own child.
“I watched her decline every day,” McCune said.
“She doesn’t sleep. She doesn’t eat.”
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Mr McCune said one of Claire’s sisters was also shocked.
“That girl turned into an addict because she refused to accept the fact that her brother was gone,” she said.
“There is a hole in their hearts that will never heal.”
McCune’s own daughter also “became addicted. She cries all the time,” the woman said of her offspring, who are grieving their cousin’s death.
She also spoke about her family’s “quest for justice.”
Although Claire’s relatives are clearly not satisfied with the outcome of Truzo’s case, justice was still served in court.
Claire’s death is certainly tragic and there is no doubt that he will be missed.
However, the same argument may apply to Melasti’s family, as he also died young.
Both were in the prime of their lives and would have had exciting futures.
However, participating in criminal activities such as purchasing drugs can be dangerous.
As Simenik pointed out, such a tragic ending is rare, but it can happen eventually.
“Drug dealing is commonplace in our city,” the prosecutor said.
“Most works don’t include violence, guns, or death, but this one did.”
Claire’s loss should serve as a reminder that lifestyle can often have unintended consequences.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
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