Seven men to stand trial in Jane Creba slaying

A court sketch of the seven men charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of 15-year-old Jane Creba.

One man will stand trial for second-degree murder and six co-accused will be tried for manslaughter in the Boxing Day 2005 slaying of 15-year-old Jane Creba.

Justice Timothy Lipson made the ruling Friday afternoon at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing that took 10 months. The investigation is one of the largest murder prosecutions in Toronto's history.

Tyshaun Barnett, Jeremiah Valentine and Louis Woodcock were charged with second-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder in the shooting death on Yonge Street.

However, only Valentine was committed on the murder charge. Barnett and Woodcock will stand trial for manslaughter and six counts each of attempted murder.

Andrew Smith, Andre Thompson, Shaun Thompson and Vincent Davis were originally charged with manslaughter. They have been committed on that offence.

Two male youths, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, have already been committed to stand trial for manslaughter.

The reasons behind the judge's decision on Friday cannot be reported because of a publication ban.

Shaun Thompson is the only adult accused free on bail. Neither he nor relatives of the six co-accused commented to the media after leaving court.

The only defence lawyer who spoke to reporters was David Midanik, who represents Smith. Midanik was "disappointed and somewhat surprised" by the judge's ruling, saying he expected the charges against his client were going to be dropped.

The accused were rounded up in a series of police raids in June 2006 and charged in the death of Creba, a popular Riverdale Collegiate Institute student.

Police allege she was caught in the crossfire of a wild shootout between rival gangs outside the Foot Locker store. Six other people were struck by bullets in the incident.

Family members of Creba were not in the courtroom on Friday.

The trial is not expected to begin this year.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Chris Eby