Skip to content

Man guilty in Boxing Day murder gets life with no chance of parole for 12 years

A man guilty of murder in the 2005 Boxing Day slaying of teen Jane Creba has been handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 12 years.
Jane Creba
Jane Creba is shown in an undated family handout photo. A man accused in the 2005 Boxing Day shootout in Toronto has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of teen Jane Creba. Jeremiah Valentine made the plea Tuesday and faces an automatic life sentence.

TORONTO — A man guilty of murder in the 2005 Boxing Day slaying of teen Jane Creba has been handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 12 years.

Jeremiah Valentine pleaded guilty to second-degree murder today in the Grade 10 student’s death.

Creba, 15, was shopping with her mother and sister in the city’s downtown when she was caught in the crossfire of a shooting between rival gangs.

The shootout took place on what is traditionally Toronto’s busiest street for Boxing Day bargain hunters and became a flashpoint for the city’s anger over what had been a year rife with gun murders.

Two men, who cannot be named, are slated to stand trial on second-degree murder charges in the new year.

The Crown told the court today that while forensics determined it is “very likely” Valentine fired the bullet that killed Creba those tests were not definitive.

Creba’s family declined to make a victim impact statement in Valentine’s case.

In November, four men were acquitted in the case after Crown said there was no reasonable prospect for a conviction against the four, who were facing manslaughter charges.

Last December, a jury found Jorrell Simpson-Rowe guilty of second-degree murder in Creba’s death.

Simpson-Rowe, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was sentenced as an adult rather than as a youth. The decision meant he received an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole for seven years.