A man accused in a Toronto shooting that killed a bystander and cast a spotlight on supervised consumption sites was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday.
Damian Hudson was charged after a stray bullet struck and killed Karolina Huebner-Makurat near one of the sites in the city’s Leslieville neighbourhood in 2023.
At the time, police said the 44-year-old mother of two was shot as a fight broke out between three alleged drug dealers outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre.
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The jury in Hudson’s trial delivered the verdict Friday evening. A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years.
The family of Huebner-Makurat, who was also known as Caroline, said they are grateful for the work Toronto police, Crown attorneys and members of the jury have done “to bring justice forward during this lengthy and thorough trial process.”
“Our family, friends, loved ones, local community and neighbours will remember Caroline forever as we move forward with our lives,” the family said in a statement.
The Ontario government ordered reviews of 17 consumption sites across the province in the wake of the shooting. It ultimately brought in legislation that banned consumption sites within 200 metres of a school or daycare, targeting 10 sites across the province.
Organizers for a Toronto site launched a Charter challenge of the law, and a judge granted an injunction to keep them open just before the ban took effect this spring.
However, facing a dearth of government funding, most of the sites chose to convert to the province’s new abstinence-based model and closed.