Emotional day in Sudbury court as man sentenced to life for second-degree murder

Sudbury man sentenced for second-degree murder A man convicted of second-degree murder in an incident in Sudbury in 2020 was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. Alana Everson reports.

Sudbury — A Sudbury judge heard 13 emotional and heartbreaking victim impact statements Tuesday during a sentencing hearing in a fatal shooting in Hanmer in July of 2020.

The statements were heard via video conference because of the pandemic.

This past March, Michael Marois pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday, with no chance of parole for 15 years.

The victim, 51-year-old Michael Young, died of a single gunshot wound that punctured vital organs.

In victim impact statements, the judge heard about the devastating and heartbreaking impacts on family and friends. Many have sought counselling, loss of security and trust, struggling to deal with the senseless loss.

The victim's father is now suffering from depression, sleeplessness and early onset dementia.

"I am lost without my son. Why?" said James Young, the victim's father.

During the sentencing, the judge repeatedly heard the victim Michael Young described as kind, quiet, gentle, hardworking and an avid outdoorsman.

The fatal shooting happened at a social gathering on Rita Street in Hanmer. Five shots were fired with several witnesses present in a residential area. One bullet is said to have grazed a propane tank but fortunately it didn't explode.

The court heard the shooter was upset about flirtatious Facebook messages he read between his estranged partner and the victim.

Marois showed up at the gathering with two loaded guns -- a semi-automatic handgun and a shotgun. He later attempted to slit his own neck with a knife.

Marois was also handed a lifetime weapons ban.

The judge ordered the arsenal of guns, knives and swords seized from his home to be destroyed.

Marois did address the court, apologizing to the victim's family and his own.

He says he got "pushed past his mental breaking point."