Justice for Jermaine A. Carby

By Gerald V. Paul

Flashback: Vancouver police Insp. Brad Desmarais holds a photo of suspect Jermaine Carvey in Vancouver on September 21, 2011. At the time Police were investigating his activities as an enforcer. Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost.
Flashback: Vancouver police Insp. Brad Desmarais holds a
photo of suspect Jermaine Carvey in Vancouver on September
21, 2011. At the time Police were investigating his activities as
an enforcer. Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost.

A prominent lawyer and author of a book on judicial diversity contends that a week after the Peel police shooting of Jermaine Anthony Carby too many questions remain unanswered.

At a press conference yesterday at Cage Park in Brampton, lawyer Munyonzwe Hamalengwa called for justice for Carby, 33, who died after he was shot shortly after 10:04 p.m. one week earlier.

According to CBC News, Carby was once described by Vancouver police as a “street-level enforcer” in that city’s notorious Downtown Eastside. The 2011 report said manslaughter and assault charges were laid but there is no record of convictions. His history may include violence, drug trafficking and drug possession, according to reports.

It was reported Carby was told by the police to drop the knife before he was shot. But no knife was seen at the location, witnesses said.

Hamalengwa, author of The Politics of Judicial Diversity and Transformation, told The Camera, “We are seeking justice as there are many unanswered questions.” Those questions include:

  • “We want to interview the driver of the vehicle to shed light on what happened, since the information is only limited with the police and the Special Investigation Unit, SIU.”
  • “We need a copy of the autopsy report – and have an independent pathologist to confirm.”
  • “We need to know if any weapon was involved. Eyewitness never saw a knife.”
  • “We want names and phone numbers of those involved in the investigations – we need to do our own investigations.”
  • “Why only Black people and other minorities are the ones primarily shot by police?”
  • “Why instead of providing information to Carby’s mother and relatives, the community was fed negative information from Vancouver?”
  • “We do not libel or defame dead people. Why viciously defame Carby in a negative way?”
  • “Is this another instance of racial profiling gone bad or deadly?”

Sharon Joseph, executive director at Breakaway Relief Care / Foundation and a community advocate, involved in counseling, including bereavement and parenting, conflict resolution, said she was contacted by Carby’s cousin to assist them in bringing about justice.

Joseph said, “Carby’s mother (Lorna Robinson), a trained nurse from Jamaica, needs our help. We need answers.

“I am working with the Toronto police and I want to have a working relationship with Peel police but right now, we need justice,” she said.