Southwestern Ontario man gets five years in prison for role in grisly killing

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Just two of the eight suspects swept up amid a year-long probe into the death a Windsor man, who was shot, dismembered and burned on Walpole Island in 2021, will be going to trial this fall in Sarnia after two more of them recently took plea deals.

Zy’Shaun Lawrence, 20, of Kitchener pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to nine months in jail and Drew Bliss, 39, of Chatham-Kent pleaded guilty to trafficking a firearm and was sent to prison for five years.

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A Sarnia judge had some harsh words for Bliss just before he left for the penitentiary.

“Think of the harm that you’ve caused, that you contributed to,” Justice Paul Kowalyshyn said.

The burned and dismembered remains of Oyebode Oyenuga, a 25-year-old Windsor man, were discovered on the First Nation between Sarnia and Chatham on March 17, 2021. He was shot there overnight between Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, 2021.

Bliss illegally traded a Springfield XD-9 handgun to one of the suspects for drugs at some point between Jan. 21 and Feb. 3, 2021. On Feb. 6, 2021, Bliss, who was living on his parents’ property in the Chatham-Kent beach town of Erieau, falsely reported a break-in to police and said the handgun was stolen.

About six months later, police raided his home and he was arrested on Aug. 5, 2021 on gun- and drug-related charges. Along with trafficking a firearm in the Oyenuga investigation, Bliss also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking as police found an illegal sawed-off shotgun and five grams of the drug during the search.

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The rest of the charges Bliss was facing and the other count Lawrence was charged with, offering an indignity to a body, were dropped after their respective pleas.

Bliss and Lawrence were among eight arrested between March 2021 and March 2022, with the other six being charged with first-degree murder. Late last year, Rolf Agard, 34, who has ties to Windsor and Mississauga, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and manslaughter and got 12 years in prison and Dejour Millington, 25, of Toronto was handed a 20-month jail sentence for a guilty plea to offering an indignity to human remains.

Two other people charged with first-degree murder were cleared of all charges  in this case earlier this year.

The final two accused, Jahton Blair, 40, from Scarborough and Saccara Johnson, 28, from Windsor, go to trial in September in Sarnia. The charges they’re facing haven’t been tested in court.

During previous guilty pleas for other accused, the court has heard Oyenuga, who was struggling with a substance-abuse issue, met the group through the Windsor drug subculture. He fought Agard in a fit of jealousy over a woman and drew blood, prompting the group to want to teach him a lesson.

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While passed out on drugs, Oyenuga was driven in his white 2015 BMW to Walpole Island as a second car followed. After he was killed, his body was dismembered, put in garbage bags and tossed in the area of Dynamite Cut Road, about two to three kilometres from the shooting scene, and his BMW was driven to a covered parking garage in Kitchener and wiped down, court heard.

Oyenuga’s family reported him missing to Windsor police three days later. Police went public with a plea to help find him in early March. On March 17, 2021, Walpole Island police found the burned and dismembered remains. Oyenuga’s identity was confirmed by DNA testing at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

In April 2021, investigators found the site of the shooting and burning. There they discovered human bone fragments, three nine-millimetre shell casings and a cellphone. A major witness came forward soon after.

tbridge@postmedia.com

TIMELINE OF OYEBODE OYENUGA HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION

• Feb. 2-3, 2021: Oyebode Oyenuga, 25, shot to death on Walpole Island, his body burned, dismembered and hidden.
• Feb. 6, 2021: Oyenuga’s family reports him missing to Windsor police.
• March 5, 2021: Windsor police publicly announce Oyenuga’s disappearance, ask for help locating him.
• March 17, 2021: Walpole Island police discover human remains near Dynamite Cut Road.
• April 11, 2021: Police find site of shooting and burning near Pump House Road.
• April 15, 2021: A break in the case as a major witness gives police a statement.
• Aug. 5, 2021: Drew Bliss, a 36-year-old Chatham-Kent man, is arrested amid a long list of gun- and drug-related charges. Two months later police announce one of those charges is linked to the Oyenuga investigation.
• Aug. 19, 2021: Rolf Agard, 23, arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Never released on bail, he later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and kidnapping and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
• Aug. 20, 2021: Jahton Blair, 40, from Scarborough, arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He goes to trial in September.
• Aug. 26, 2021: Saccara Johnson, 28, from Windsor arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She also goes to trial in September.
• Sept. 23, 2021: Dejour Millington arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was released on bail in October 2022 and later pleaded guilty only to offering an indignity to a body and was sentenced to his 20 months in pre-plea custody.
• Oct. 13, 2021: Zy’Shaun Lawrence, 20, from Kitchener arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder and committing an indignity to a dead body. He was released on bail in April 2022 and later pleaded guilty to accessory only.
• March 10, 2022: Nashaye Walker, 21, from North York arrested on a Canada-wide warrant and charged with first-degree murder. She was released in December 2022 on $100,00 bail and the charges were later dropped.
• March 26, 2022: Turuk Thomas, 21, from Kitchener arrested on unrelated charges in Sault Ste. Marie and transferred to provincial police in Lambton County, where he is wanted on an outstanding warrant and charged with first-degree murder. Thomas was released on bail in June 2022 and the charges were later dropped.

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