MARTIN: Risky lifestyle sometimes leads to tragic outcome

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No one deserves to die a violent death.

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But sometimes taking part in illegal activities makes you far more likely to be the victim of violence.

Such was the case for Calgarian Stallone Clare, who in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, 2023, was fatally shot during a robbery attempt on his drug dealer.

According to a statement of agreed facts filed by the Crown in Calgary Court of King’s Bench on Monday, Clare and his drinking buddy, Chad Merasty, decided they wanted some cocaine, but didn’t want to pay for it.

Around 3:30 a.m., Samiul Islam Turzo arrived outside the Ranchero Road N.W. residence where the two men were socializing to facilitate the sale of crack cocaine to the two men.

But the transaction quickly went south after Merasty entered Turzo’s vehicle and sat in the front passenger’s seat, while Clare attempted to get at the drug trafficker in the driver’s seat area of the car.

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“They both attacked and attempted to overpower Turzo,” prosecutor Ron Simenik told Justice Glenn Poelman.

During the ensuing struggle Turzo was able to reach for his loaded .22-caliber Ruger handgun and shot Clare in the chest and Merasty in the shoulder.

While Turzo was scheduled to stand trial this week for second-degree murder in the death of Clare, who collapsed and died a short distance from his killer’s car, the Crown took pleas to different charges.

Defence lawyer Balfour Der said his client was willing to admit charges of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a loaded, restricted handgun.

Poelman accepted a joint submission to sentence the Calgary man, who at one point had fled the country shortly after the shooting, only to be arrested for murder three months later, to three years on those charges.

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The prosecution conceded Turzo acted in self-defence when he fatally shot Clare and wounded Merasty, who subsequently died of an unrelated drug overdose.

The plea deal did not sit well with members of Clare’s family, who attended the hearing in Calgary.

Family matriarch Toni McCune, who was the dead man’s great aunt, but was more like a grandmother to him, was permitted to provide a victim impact statement, with the agreement of Der, even though her lost loved one wasn’t the victim of a crime.

And McCune eloquently spoke of the tragic impact Clare’s death had on her entire extended family, including the deceased’s mother, whom she raised like her own child.

“I’ve watched her fading every day,” McCune said.

“She does not sleep. She does not eat.”

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One of Clare’s sisters was also devastated, McCune said.

“That girl has fallen into addiction, because she refuses to accept the fact that her brother is gone,” she said.

“Their hearts have holes in them that may never heal.”

McCune’s own daughter “has also fallen into addiction. She cries all the time,” the woman said of her offspring grieving her cousin’s death.

She also spoke of the family’s “search for justice.”

Clearly, Clare’s relatives were not happy with the outcome of Turzo’s case, but justice was still done in that courtroom.

Clare’s death was, indeed, tragic and there can be no doubt he is dearly missed.

But that same argument could be applied to Merasty’s family, as he too died prematurely.

Both men would have been in the primes of their lives and had futures to look forward to.

But taking part in criminal activity, such as purchasing narcotics, can be a risky endeavour.

As Simenik noted, they rarely end so tragically, but they can.

“Drug transactions are daily in our city,” the prosecutor said.

“While most don’t involve violence, guns and death, this one did.”

Clare’s loss should serve as a reminder that lifestyle can often lead to unforeseen outcomes.

KMartin@postmedia.com

X: @KMartinCourts

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