A mother spoke through tears as she described the moment she learned her son had been shot Tuesday during the sentencing hearing of Kaz Henry Cox, the man convicted of the first-degree murder of Triston Reece.
“When my son was killed, my whole world was torn from under me. It was as if someone put his hand on my chest, broke my heart and tore it to pieces,” Dale said. Adams, mother of a 19-year-old. Reece, who died in a shooting in Halifax in July 2019. He added that he had been facing anxiety and sleep problems since the shooting.
“I would take his place in a minute if I could.”
Cox, 43, was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury earlier this month. On Tuesday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge Jamie Campbell sentenced him to life in prison with no parole option for 25 years. This means that Cox can apply for parole in 2044.
“There is no satisfaction from the imposition of this sentence. He cannot fix things. He cannot rectify the wrong. He cannot restore anything to where it should be, but it must be done.” said Campbell.
Cox declined to make a statement during the hearing.
Death does not define it
Dale Adams, Triston Reece’s mother, spoke Tuesday in light of her killer’s sentence. (Mairin Prentiss / CBC)
“We’ve been waiting for justice for a long time, the horrible death of my son,” Adams said. “I will not allow what happened to my son to be the only one that defines him or me. I raised him with unconditional love. You knew that no matter what he did in life, I would always love him. And that will not change. never. for me “.
On July 26, 2019, Reece was found with gunshot wounds on Scot Street in Halifax and died at the hospital. Cox was charged with first-degree murder in November 2019.
The Crown argued that evidence of cell phone data, images from a bus camera and eyewitnesses showed that Cox drove to Reece, who was in a car parked on Scot Street, and shot him before drive to East Chester, NS, where he traveled down a country road, parked his car, and burned it.
Triston Reece was a well-known football player in Halifax who played on provincial teams and at Citadel High. (Nova Scotia Football / Facebook)
The father, motivated by revenge, argued Crown
During his final arguments earlier this month, Crown prosecutor Rick Woodburn said Cox killed Reece in an act of revenge after discovering the 19-year-old was “petting” his daughter.
There was evidence that Cox knew his daughter was working in the sex trade and had a relationship with the victim, Woodburn said, and that Cox planned to shoot and kill Reece.
Cox, however, denied knowledge of a relationship of any kind between his daughter and Reece and said he had not killed Reece. He said he only knew about it when police interviewed him after the shooting.
“My understanding after this interview was that it wasn’t a good (relationship),” Cox said during his testimony. “For me, even calling it a relationship is difficult,” he added, adding that it was during the interview that he learned that his daughter had been sexually assaulted and had been forced to have sex work in hotels.
In her final arguments, defense attorney Alexandra Mamo had told the jury that the Crown did not prove Cox’s guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
Cox had previously been charged with several offenses, including possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of a firearm while prohibited, and carelessly carrying a firearm in 2019, and various other offenses. dating back to the 1990s.