Accomplice in Tylor McInnis murder sentenced to 7 years

One of the three men convicted in the August 2016 murder of Tylor McInnis was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison.

McInnis's body was found in the trunk of a stolen car in a cemetery in North Preston, N.S., in August 2016.

Daniel Romeo Downey was found guilty in March of kidnapping, forcible confinement and being an accessory to murder after the fact.

Because the facts for the kidnapping and forcible confinement charges were the same, the judge issued a judicial stay on the latter charge.

Downey was sentenced in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax to four years on the kidnapping charge and three years on the accessory charge, to be served consecutively.

Downey's lawyer had asked that the sentences be served concurrently. With credit for time already served, Downey would have been eligible for release in just a few months.

'I'm never going to have my son back again'

But with a seven-year sentence, he has three years, seven months remaining.

"Would I have liked him to get longer? Sure," McInnis's mother, Catherine McInnis, said to reporters outside of court.

"I'm never going to have my son back again. But going forward, two out of three is finally out of the way. We've got one more."

The second person already dealt with is Nicco Smith. He pleaded guilty to being an accessory in March, just before the jury trial was to begin. He received a two-year sentence.

The third person is Daniel Downey's older brother, Shawntez. He was convicted of second-degree murder, but his sentencing has been postponed until March 2020 to allow for a cultural assessment to be prepared.

'I don't feel safe in my home or in public,' says mom

Two members of the McInnis family and two family friends submitted victim impact statements to the court.

"I don't go out in public much knowing who will be there or when I will have a breakdown," Catherine McInnis wrote in her statement.

"I don't feel safe in my home or in public. I have to take medication to help me with my depression, anxiety, PTSD and grief."

Circumstances surrounding death

During the trial, the court heard how Tylor McInnis went to North Preston the night he died to swap drugs for a gun.

He exchanged text messages with Shawntez Downey to set up the deal, but Downey decided to rob McInnis instead.

The two men had a confrontation outside a home in North Preston and McInnis took off on foot, pursued by the Downey brothers and Smith, while a fourth man, Ron Sock, held McInnis's friend, Liam Thompson.

The kidnapping and forcible confinement charges relate to the detainment of Thompson who was shot at, but survived.

The Downeys and their accomplices took Thompson's car, with Thompson bound on the floor in the back seat and loaded McInnis's body into the trunk.

They then abandoned the car and its contents in a North Preston cemetery.

Thompson was able to free himself and escape.

'I have heard your pain,' says judge

In handing out the sentence, Justice Denise Boudreau spoke directly to Catherine McInnis and other members of the family who were in court.

"He was treated with so little dignity, discarded in such a cold and callous manner," the judge said.

"I have heard your pain," she told the family.