Toronto man sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder in Wasaga Beach attack

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions that may be disturbing.

A 24-year-old Toronto man convicted of attempted murder has received a life sentence with no chance of parole for seven years.

Kailend Coote was sent to prison by Justice Laura Bird for what the Barrie judge described as a “deliberate and premeditated” Feb. 2022 attack that left a man dying inside his Wasaga Beach home from several stab wounds following a beating with a cooking pot on the kitchen floor.

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Coote was found guilty by a jury in April following a week of trial.

The jury agreed with the Crown that Coote and another man, armed with a gun, forced their way into the home along River Road East at about 10 p.m. and assaulted the complainant, who was knocked unconscious prior to being stabbed repeatedly in the legs, torso, shoulder, and throat.

The complainant, who struggled with addiction for years, testified the gun put to his head failed to fire after the trigger was pulled.

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The court heard the beating was retribution for a robbery at a nearby drug house a day earlier in which the complainant admitted he and his friends, in search of drugs, robbed Coote.

The man said he kicked Coote in the jaw, took $1500 in cash from him, an iPhone, as well as an expensive jacket and sweater. The complainant testified Coote sought revenge and left him in a pool of blood and in a coma for a week.

Coote, who was 19 at the time, was identified by the victim as ‘Little D.’

He told the jury he recognized Coote by his eyes despite both his attackers concealing their identities with hoods and masks.

Coote was arrested by police in Toronto a year after the attack when his DNA was found on the broken cooking pot and bloody zip tie in the kitchen. Coote had been out on bail until he was taken into custody following the guilty verdict.

His accomplice has since been deported.

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Justice Bird called Coote’s actions beyond “callous, ruthless, and cold blooded,” saying were it not for “extraordinary” and miraculous medical intervention, the man would have died. Justice Bird ruled Coote’s moral culpability to be just as high as if he had succeeded in committing murder.

Coote, took the witness stand in his own defence. He insisted he had nothing to do with the attack despite DNA evidence at the scene. The jury did not believe his testimony and he was convicted within hours of deliberations.

When offered an opportunity to address the court prior to being sentenced, Coote declined.

He will be eligible to apply for parole in 2033 and is banned from having weapons on him for life.