A stolen Honda Element raced along the dangerously slippery Whitemud freeway, chased by two police cars with sirens on and lights flashing.
Laylin Delorme was driving the SUV, just hours after he had shot and killed a Mac’s convenience store employee.
His front seat passenger was Colton Steinhauer, who had allegedly gunned down another employee at another Mac’s store early that morning.
The 13-year-old in the back seat was literally along for the ride.
The teen, now 16, can only be identified by his initials G.S. under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This week he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of store clerk Karanpal Bhangu, but not guilty to the first-degree murder of the second clerk, Ricky Cenabre.
Karanpal Bhangu, 35, and Ricky Cenabre, 41, were shot and killed in a pair of Mac’s store robberies on Dec. 18, 2015.
The Crown wrapped up its case on Tuesday after a day and a half of evidence. The teen’s defence lawyer chose not to present any evidence.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley may hear closing submissions Wednesday afternoon.
Teen crawled out back-seat window
Edmonton police constable Devin Kokoski testified the road conditions were “horrendous” on the morning of Dec. 18, 2015.
“It was very icy,” Kokoski said. “This vehicle was not stopping. You could tell the driver of the Honda Element was actively evading police. Taking all lanes of the Whitemud.”
During the chase, speeds reached up to 150 km/h. It was around 5 a.m. and there were few vehicles on the road.
Kokoski said the SUV suddenly swerved toward the Terwillegar Road off ramp, lost control, spun out and collided with the base of an overpass. Both front-seat airbags deployed.
Const. Daniel White testified he had his carbine trained on the SUV and could see the men in the front seat “digging at their waistbands.”
More police officers arrived at the scene, prepared for a high-risk takedown.
The men surrendered first. Then G.S. crawled out the open passenger-side window in the back seat, put his hands up and walked backwards toward police.
The 13-year-old climbed out of the back-seat passenger side window of the SUV and surrendered to police. (Edmonton Police Service )
Const. Jordan Veasey took custody of G.S. After he frisked the teenager, he put him in handcuffs and placed him in the back of his police cruiser.
Veasey arrested G.S. for possession of stolen property. He told court he made sure the teenager knew an active double-homicide investigation was underway. G.S. has been in custody since that day.
The constable was asked to describe the teen’s demeanour as they drove to downtown police headquarters.
“He was very, I’d say, sober and quiet,” Veasey said. “A little upset.”
Veasey’s partner agreed.
“He was crying at one point, from what I could remember,” Const. Bryce Ottenbreit testified. “He was co-operative.”
When the officers later emptied the teen’s pockets they found a cigarette package, a cellphone and a crumpled $10 bill.