'My son wasn't in a gang,' says Jannai Dopwell-Bailey's mother

The mother of Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, whose 16-year-old sonwas stabbed to death outside his school in 2021, insistshe wasnot part of a gang.

Steps from the intersectionwhere her son was killed,Charla Dopwell told reporters Monday that the trial "made allusions ofJannai being part of a gang in Cte-des-Neiges."

"He was in school. He wasn't in a gang," she said, aday after asecond person was convicted of the second-degree murder of her son."To call my son a member of a gang,to quote one of the accused's messages is to further participate in racism, labelling and criminalizing Black youths."

Dopwell-Baileywas fatally stabbedafter finishing his school day in October 2021, near the intersection of Victoria and Van Horne avenues, in the Cte-des-Neiges district. He attended Mile End high school, an alternative school in Montreal's west end, located in the basement of another school, Coronation Elementary.

Dopwell pointed to a social media message in which her son's murderer referred to Dopwell-Bailey as a "gangster [N-word]."

"I hope that racist slurs like these will be taken into consideration by the justice system and by society because they show that racism and hate kills," she said.

Crown prosecutor Katerine Brabant described his murder as an unfair attack because he was alone, defending himself against two assailants.

Andrei Donetwasfound guilty Sunday of the second-degree murder of Dopwell-Bailey.

The Crownentered into evidence surveillance camera footage that showed Donet, his accomplice and another person near Dopwell-Bailey's school about 15 minutes before the end of classes. Severalvideos taken and posted to social media before and after the murderwere also put into evidence.

A teenwas also convicted of second-degree murder for the same casein December 2023. His identity is protected by a publication ban because he was a minor when he stabbed Dopwell-Bailey.

Though the jury recommended Donet be eligible for parole after 12 years in prison,sentencing will be debated at the end of the month.

Dopwell said thesentence "must be firm and tough" tosend a message to the community.

"No sentence that the court will impose on the two, young, white men whokilled my son, Jannai, will be able to bring him back," she said.

Dopwell, an anglophone, noted that because the lasttrial was held in French, she was prevented from "fully understanding the details of the trial and from having full access ofjustice."

"I don't understand why the trial was not in English when the accused had the first trial in English without a problem," she said."While the court did offer interpretation and translation services, this is not enough to give me a full picture of what was being said."

"It was frustrating and avery regrettable experience for me as a victim of violence," she added.

Kevin George, the victim'sgodfather, said the process was made even more painful becausere-watching the video of Dopwell-Bailey's killing forced the family to "relive the whole thing over and over again."

He said the murder has made his own children aged 12 and 14 more concerned about violence in situations they "would have never considered before."

"It impacts their participation in school activities. Itimpacts them when they see violence on TV," he said."As a father, it's tough to see that."

For Jamaica Association of Montreal vice-presidentSharon Nelson, what was most striking about the trial wasthe prosecutor detailing the stepsthe youthstook to kill Dopwell-Bailey.

"They planned each aspect of it and the brutality of it," she said, noting that the killerswere especially worried about getting caught. "It was senseless."

Nelson said she'll remember Dopwell-Bailey asa gentle giant and acommitted studentwho was beloved by tutors of the association'stutoringprogram.

"The biggest loss is the fact that Jannaiisnot here," she said. "He was such a loving soul, a good human being. Andto be treated that way is just very emotional and very hard to take."