The man who inflicted the fatal injuries that killed Joe Zecca in 2015 will be released from jail within the next two years.
A passing motorist found Zecca, 38, found lying on Lonzo Road on the night of May 10, 2015. Zecca was severely injured and was pronounced dead just 15 minutes later.
Less than a week later, Shiloh Davidson was charged with second-degree murder in the case. Last year, though, Davidson pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. That charge is for deadly offences in which the attacker did not intend to kill the victim.
On Friday, Davidson was handed a six-year prison sentence. But because Davidson has already spent nearly three years in custody, he will receive time-and-a-half credit for that time and now has just one year and seven months left on his sentence.
A second man, Andre Provencal, pleaded guilty to charges of uttering threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose in connection with the incident.
Zecca grew up in Surrey, but was apparently homeless when he was killed and had only recently come to Abbotsford.
Davidson, meanwhile, has an extensive criminal record, most of which occurred in Abbotsford. He has previously been convicted for vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, theft and fleeing from a peace officer.
In 2009, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the “brazen” daylight robbery of a Shoppers Drug Mart in Vernon. The Court of Appeal later knocked that sentence down to 34 months.
Last August, a week before Davidson pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, the court set to hear his murder trial ruled that statements made following his address were inadmissible because investigators had breached his right to remain silent.
The court found that police had suggested Davidson “had an obligation to speak to the police and that his refusal was childish.”
– with files from Vikki Hopes
