Jane Creba, 15, was shot to death on Dec. 26, 2005, as two groups of people exchanged gunfire in a crowd of holiday shoppers on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. Six other people were wounded.

The lead investigator in the Boxing Day 2005 shooting of Toronto teen Jane Creba says the girl's parents are thankful the first person convicted in the murder has been handed a life sentence.

Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou said police contacted the family after today's sentence came down and they expressed their "satisfaction."

Justice Ian Nordheimer ruled that a man who was 17 when he participated in the gunfight between two gangs deserved to be treated as an adult by the justice system.

He called the fatal shooting of Creba, 15 — six others wounded in the exchange of gunfire —a seminal event in Toronto's history.

Nordheimer said it became a touchstone against which all other crimes of gun violence have been measured.

The 21-year-old man — known during the trial as J.S.R. because he was a youth at the time of Creba's death — was convicted of second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and five weapons charges.

Once sentenced as an adult his name was revealed as Jorrell Simpson-Rowe.

Eligible for parole

His sentence makes him eligible for parole in seven years, but because he has already served three years in custody, he could potentially seek early release sooner.

Toronto's residents were left reeling after hearing news of Creba's tragic death amid a spray of bullets fired on the city's busiest street, which prompted one police officer to declare the city had "finally lost its innocence."

"It must be remembered that this shootout occurred on one of the busiest streets in Canada on the busiest shopping day of the year," Nordheimer said in his ruling.

"It is in this context that [he] took possession of a semi-automatic handgun from another male — a firearm that he was neither licensed nor authorized to possess — and fired that gun."

While Nordheimer said he was not "unsympathetic" to Simpson-Rowe's troubled upbringing, the judge added the man took the "wrong easy way over the right hard way."

"I believe a youth sentence would fail to address the seriousness of the offence and [his] role in it," Nordheimer said.

Seven other adults and one youth are charged with either second-degree murder or manslaughter in the case and are still awaiting trial.

'Cavalier attitude'

The Crown had argued that Simpson-Rowe deserved to be sentenced as an adult because of his "cavalier" attitude about the tragedy and a refusal to take responsibility for it.

But defence lawyer Mara Greene said Simpson-Rowe still denies shooting a gun during the melee, which is why he won't accept responsibility for Creba's death.

A psychiatrist who interviewed Simpson-Rowe concluded he was at a high risk of reoffending. But Lindley Bassarath's report noted factors that supported both an adult and a youth sentence.

Reports from Simpson-Rowe's detention centres indicated he was continuing with his education, attending Bible study and getting counselling. While he had several behavioural incidents in the past, reports suggested he had improved in the past year.

But the Crown painted a picture of Simpson-Rowe as an angry young man with a history of "persistent rage" and an "explosive" temper.

Psychological reports from schools he attended detailed continuing concerns about his behaviour since Grade 1. He had been suspended 30 times in four years by the end of elementary school.