Murder victim's mom vows to fight against killer's early parole bid

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'He needs to do his time by what the law said,' says Nancy Logan, whose son Jonathan Chambers was shot to death in Oro-Medonte in 2007

The mother of Jonathan Chambers, the 21-year-old man who was murdered in Oro-Medonte more than 18 years ago, has expressed her frustration that the man convicted of killing her son has won his bid to seek early parole.

But the Markham mother and grandmother remains resolute that she will continue to oppose Sean Spence's potential release as the convicted murderer tracks toward a parole application.

"We will be there in three years' time," Nancy Logan said, in reference to when Spence will become eligible to apply for parole, per the verdict of a Barrie jury last month.

Spence, who in the past been called Sean Lenworth Spence but was referred to in court only by his first name, recently won a victory of sorts when that jury ruled he could apply for parole in September 2028.

It shaved five years -- from 25 down to 20 -- off the normal duration for which those convicted of first-degree murder in Canada can apply for parole.

Spence will be 49 when he becomes eligible to apply, 27 years older than the man he ordered killed, a fact that was not challenged at the so-called "faint hope" trial.

"This was different, a couple of days (to hear the jury's verdict), rather than three months when a judge came back with his decision," said Logan, who works as a senior hospital administrator.

Logan also expressed confidence that the different format by which the parole board hears cases will make it more difficult for Spence to convince panel members, compared to a jury of 12 citizens.

Spence had been in custody since 2008, when he was captured in Boston, Mass., after escaping to the United States when Chambers was murdered. Spence was fleeing both a looming charge for his part in the Chambers murder, but also for his robbing of a pizza delivery man in Toronto, for which he had already been found guilty of armed robbery.

Logan referenced Spence's previous criminality, his fleeing arrest and his immigration status in Canada as part of the reason why she remains opposed to him being released early.

A Jamaican citizen, Spence will be subject to deportation whenever he leaves prison. Theoretically, that means Spence should never be free in Canada again, that he will transported from prison to an immigration centre to await deportation, assuming he ever makes parole.

But Logan is not convinced that process is fail-safe, which is part of the reason she remains opposed to any sort of early parole.

"I wasn't just (at the faint hope trial in Barrie) for me. I was there for that pizza delivery man, too, to help him get justice," said Logan.

"... And who (is to say) if he ever gets released that he won't sneak back into Canada? He's done it before," by escaping to the U.S., she added.

Paradoxically, perhaps, Logan did not take significant issue with the jury's decision. She repeatedly said she respected the panel's finding. Her primary issue is having a convicted murderer being allowed to use the courts to skirt a portion of the punishment the legal system meted out in the first place.

"He needs to do his time by what the law said," said Logan.

Chambers was shot to death just north of Barrie on March 7, 2007, a week after his 21st birthday. The shooter, court heard, was a man named Andrew Turner, who has since died.

Separated by some 14 years, both the original trial and the more recent proceeding heard evidence that Spence ordered Turner to kill Chambers after he blamed him for being ripped off in a drug deal.

After being beaten, Chambers was driven north, past Barrie to Line 4 near Ridge Road, and shot numerous times. His body was left in the snow on the side of the road.

All of the men involved were convicted of lesser crimes, with Turner taking a plea deal to manslaughter after originally going on trial with Spence.

Tried alone, Spence was found guilty of first-degree murder by Superior Court Justice Peter Howden and he was sentenced to life in prison.

The faint hope trial 14 years later, in the same Barrie courthouse, heard extensive evidence that Spence has flourished in custody. He has held down various positions within the inmate population and is currently being held at Beaver Creek Institution near Gravenhurst.

The most recent trial produced an odd juxtaposition of mostly positive evidence. If you divorced yourself from the brutal details of a young man being cut down in his prime, it sounded not unlike a parent-teacher interview for an upstanding student.

Logan never shied away that her son was engaging in criminality when he was murdered. She had been aware of some rough spots in his life. Had she known to what extent, she said she and Jonathan's father, Devon Chambers, would have taken more drastic steps to get him back on the straight and narrow.

There is clear evidence that is not just empty talk, as Jonathan's siblings have all gone on to successful lives. His sister, Claudina, is a nurse, while another sister, Aliyah, won gold in hurdles at the Canada Summer Games this year and was third at the national championships. She has her eyes set on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Jonathan's brother, Shamawd, had a long Canadian Football League career with three different clubs, winning the Grey Cup in 2015 with the Edmonton Eskimos, when he was chosen as outstanding Canadian in the title game.

Of Jonathan's extended family, a number of cousins have become police officers, and his great-uncle, Keith Forde, retired as Toronto's deputy chief.

Despite all the forces of good that surrounded Jonathan Chambers, on a cold winter's night almost 20 years ago, Logan got a call that "something has happened" to her eldest son.

Instead of going out to dinner with him as planned that night, where she said she was expecting to talk to him about her concerns, she got the worst news any parent could receive.

"I'll never forget (that call)," she said.