Brampton mayor SLAMS broken justice system in letter to Ford, Trudeau gov’t

Henderson-Bellman was allegedly killed at the hands of Darnell Reid, who has been charged with second degree murder, possession of a loaded firearm, and failure to comply with release order.

Reid is a repeat offender who was subject of an interim judicial release stemming from a previous domestic violence incident between the accused and the victim.

"In May 2020, the accused was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm for an unrelated matter. After only six days in custody, this accused who regularly ignored his conditions of release, and continued to offend by possessing illegal firearms was released back into the community with a GPS monitoring device. This was despite clear concerns regarding his risk to the victim, the community and the potential to continue to re-offend," the Peel Regional Police said in a statement.

"This resulted in another life being taken by a violent offender with another illegal firearm. This unacceptable failure is becoming entirely too familiar in our communities. Collectively we need to do better," the statement continued.

Brown's letter holds back no punches, stating: "This is a perfect example of the real and heart-breaking consequences of our revolving door justice system. This was preventable. Enough is enough. This is infuriating. The police did their job. The justice system failed us."

Brown notes that of the 31 homicide in the Peel region over the last year, 13 were domestic fatalities.

"There was a total of 18,378 reports, including 10,818 intimate partner calls where 3,107 charges were laid. Of the 7,519 family violence calls, 963 charges were laid."

Anyone with information relating to this investigation is asked to contact the Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau at 905-453-2121, ext. 3205. Information can also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca.