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Dante, a boy who loved riding his bike, barbecues and his new-found home in Canada, was hit by a stray bullet while walking on Jane Street with his mom in the middle of a Saturday afternoon on Nov. 7, 2020. In the parking lot across the street, behind an apartment complex at 25 Stong Court, gunmen had suddenly opened fire on a carload of unsuspecting teenagers 鈥� Adamski among them 鈥� who fled in terror; Dante was hit in the neck.

For a few days, he remained in hospital, his mother unable to accept that her breathing son, whose heart was still beating, was clinically dead with no brain function. 鈥淚 was prepared and willing to take care of him for the rest of his life, I just wanted him with me,鈥� his mother, Karla Marroquin, wrote in her heartbreaking diary entry, read in court by prosecutor Arian Khader on Thursday 鈥� the grieving mother鈥檚 48th birthday.

The hardest moment of Marroquin鈥檚 life was 鈥渉aving to let him go,鈥� she wrote, describing the lasting impact of the boy鈥檚 loss. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see life as I once used to see it, feeling safe, comfortable, normal.鈥�

On Thursday, Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett sentenced Rashawn Chambers, 29, Jahwayne Smart, 29, the two gunmen, and Cjay Hobbs, 31, the getaway driver, to automatic life sentences for first-degree murder. The trio were each sentenced to an additional five life sentences for attempted murder for the attack on the teens, to be served concurrently.

Their trial, held this spring, revealed evidence of a 鈥渃arefully orchestrated鈥� attack, Barrett said. All three were wearing masks and gloves that day, and a disturbing video showed them an hour later, 鈥渁cting as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred,鈥� she noted.

Victim impact statements read out in court showed how many lives were shattered that day, Barrett said.

One such victim, Adamski, was described in court as 鈥渃harismatic, sharp-witted and sensitive.鈥� He didn鈥檛 die from the bullet wound to the arm he received that afternoon. When he saw two attackers approach, he hit the gas and steered the group to safety while the gunmen fired a total of 36 rounds. His actions likely averted a massacre, Khader noted in his closing address at trial.

Adamski, who had just turned 18, 鈥渨as an innocent bystander, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time in the middle of the day,鈥� his mother, Anna Adamska, told a packed courtroom Thursday.

鈥淎lthough he survived the shooting, it destroyed his life as well as my family鈥檚.鈥�

After the shooting, he was diagnosed with PTSD and had incredible survivor鈥檚 guilt that consumed him, she said, reading her victim impact statement. He 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 fathom that an innocent 12-year-old boy 鈥� Dante Andreatta 鈥� died that day, and that he had survived and lived. He told me often that he wished it had been him instead.鈥澛�

In the end, after many unsuccessful attempts to get help, he was prescribed Xanax. Later, he began to self-medicate and became addicted to Xanax to numb his pain. He died of an overdose on May 4, 2022. His girlfriend told court she believes the anxiety and trauma of the shooting played a big role in his death.

None of the other four teenagers inside the car 鈥� three were hit by gunfire 鈥� provided victim impact statements to the court.

Khader praised the families of Dante and Jonathan for agreeing to organ donation, despite being in their 鈥渄arkest moments.鈥� Dante鈥檚 organs saved nine Canadians, while Jonathan saved not only his friends that afternoon 鈥� but six others through organ donations.

In his victim impact statement, Sebastian Andreatta 鈥� Dante鈥檚 dad 鈥� highlighted the contrast between the decisions made by the three men in the prisoner鈥檚 dock and those made by his own family 鈥� and by countless other law-abiding citizens.

鈥淲e have courage, we who wake up to go to work, go to school, who strive to be better people every day, who choose not to carry a weapon, who fight to support our families in the right way, who give the best of ourselves so this country and this city become stronger,鈥� he said, standing behind a podium and facing Barrett.

鈥淭he rest are cowards who wander aimlessly, causing harm, without a soul, without anything.鈥�

Defence lawyers didn鈥檛 make any sentencing submissions on the five attempted murders, since the jury found the men were guilty of first-degree murder for the 鈥渢ransferred intent鈥� death of Dante, which meant they believed it was a planned and deliberate murder when they shot five kids in the car.

Khader said all the victims were targeted 鈥渇or no reason at all,鈥� although in his closing address, he noted many 鈥渟enseless鈥� murders happen in 色色啦, sometimes over mistaken identity. Other acts of violence often stem from escalating cycles of retaliation, fear and long-standing rivalries. The three men were suspects in two other shootings in the days leading up to Nov. 7.

Chambers, Smart and聽Hobbs must wait the maximum 25 years before they are first eligible to apply for parole; there is no guarantee it will ever be granted.

Hobbs is already serving a life sentence for the 2020 murder of popular 色色啦 rapper Dimarjio Jenkins.