Shaquille Collins guilty of first degree murder

A jury has found 25 year old Shaquille Collins guilty of first degree murder and attempted murder. He will be 49 by the time he is eligible for parole.

On May 21, 2012 James Bajkor was renovating his house on Milton avenue in Hamilton when he was caught up in gunfire in broad daylight.

Shaquille Collins had set out to settle a jail beef he had with a man named Justin Beals. Collins fired his gun five times, two bullets hit Beals, but he survived. A stray bullet hit Bajkor, he wasn’t so lucky.

Justice Andrew Goodman called the murder senseless and the attempted murder, undeserved. Goodman sentenced Collins to life in prison for both first degree murder and attempted murder, both sentences will be served concurrently with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

Judge Goodman said rehabilitation in this case was not a consideration because Collins was only 19 at the time of the shooting and already had 41 convictions. Also the time Collins spent in jail awaiting a re-trial, he was involved in misconduct 10 times.