A young woman whose father was riddled with bullets in the street in Montreal, following a “ridiculous story of toxicomina”, is still inconsolable three years after the drama which, according to her, illustrates the scourge of firearms in the metropolis.
“More and more people are walking with rifles, they are people who have no ambitions, values, or feelings. It hurts to know that it is so easy to get it, anyone can, that’s why my dad was killed, “said Sara Marques, this Friday at the Montreal courthouse.
The young woman spoke of hearings on the penalty to impose on Marcus Barthelus, a criminal who had participated in the homicide of his father Steven Marques in April 2022.
Steven Marques
Photo taken from Facebook
That evening, the 44-year-old accused wanted to go to an evening in an accommodation where people consumed drugs. He was said to be said not to appear, given that a person with whom he was in conflict was there, but Barthelus ignored the warning.
“He presented himself on the ground, with someone he knew armed,” said Katerine Brabant of the crown.
An argument then broke out. And she ended in the middle of the street when the individual who accompanied Barthelus took out his firearm to unload her on Mr. Marques.
Agents double
Both the shooter and the accused fled. The latter was arrested following a long police investigation, which had even involved double agents.
“I have hosted someone, but it’s not over,” said Barthelus to these agents.
The Montrealer had subsequently been arrested. And at the end of his trial, he was found guilty of manslaughter, because of his participation in the crime. The crown now claims 10 years of penitentiary, given the severity of the crime.
“It occurred at the corner of Jean-Talon and Saint-Laurent, it is a busy corner,” said Brabant to judge Anne-Marie Manoukian.
Vow of non-violence
Barthelus, who is defended by Me Anthony El-Haddad, hopes to get away with about six and a half years of incarceration, by pleading, among other things, that in this drama, Barthelus had nevertheless tried to defuse the situation. Since then, he assured that he understood that violence led nothing good, especially since he knew the victim.
“I apologize to the Marques family, especially to his daughter, for having been one of the participants … He told me how he loved his only daughter. I blame myself every day, I really apologize … “, he launched at the court.
Qualifying the “ridiculous history of toxicomane” affair, he says he opened his eyes and now reject crime.
“In prison, I refuse to consume [de la drogue]I made a vow of non-violence, I realized how it can degenerate, “he said, saying that” firearms are a real scourge that destroys families “.
But for Sara Marques, that will not bring her her father, who loved her, supported her and who taught her everything.
“All of this is over, I could never confide in him or ask him for advice,” she said. The image of seeing him lying on the ground dying haunts me every day. I will never accept how he left. »»
The judge should make her sentence later.