FREDERIC SERRE

The 510 West

It took five months, but last Thursday, Montreal Police homicide investigators officially charged a teenager who they believe fatally shot a violent 42-year-old gang member outside a gym in Dollard des Ormeaux.

Facing a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 6 killing is a 16-year-old male, who is currently incarcerated at a juvenile facility in Kitchener, Ont., where he is serving time for armed robbery. The accused cannot be named because he is a juvenile.

While police arrested the teen last month, the first-degree murder charge was introduced last Thursday during a youth court hearing in which the accused appeared by videoconference. Homicide investigators say they were able to identify the teen as the alleged shooter after reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing multiple witnesses.

The victim, Stevens Cantave, was shot and killed in the parking lot of a gym at the corner of Brunswick and Sources boulevards. Police said Cantave was shot several times. He was declared dead at the scene. Investigators determined that the gunman escaped in a waiting car, which police found the next day.

Cantave was well known to police because of his ties to the Ruffriders, a violent West Island-based gang, and the Crazy Juvenile Gang, a group closely tied street gang operating in Montreal.