Con with Toronto roots accused of killing fellow inmate at Gravenhurst jail
· Toronto Sun
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A jailed man with roots in Toronto and an extensive criminal background is accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Gravenhurst jail last weekend.
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On Thursday, Ontario Provincial Police said they were notified of an altercation between inmates at the Beaver Creek Institution that occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. last Saturday.
According to the OPP, one incarcerated individual was transported to hospital where he later died. The victim was identified as 45-year-old Devon Paskimin.
Correctional Service Canada said Paskimin had been serving a life sentence since May 12, 2003.
In 2006, while imprisoned serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence for assaulting a peace officer at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Paskimin and another inmate were accused of a deadly stabbing attack on a fellow convict during a basketball game.
They were convicted of the slaying three years later and sentenced to 14 years before being eligible for parole.
Following an investigation into Paskimin’s death, the OPP said 36-year-old Kadeem Francis was charged with second-degree murder.
The accused is scheduled to appear before a judge in Bracebridge on Nov. 17.
Grew up in notorious Toronto neighbourhood
The murder charge is the latest run-in with authorities for Francis, who hails from Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood.
After attending Emery Collegiate Institute in North York, Francis left town to further his education at St. Lawrence College in Kingston where he played basketball .
However, his life dribbled in the wrong direction when he was one of three men accused of beating a Mississauga man to death in a park near Belleville in 2010.
Pleaded guilty to manslaughter
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter the following year despite claiming he was merely “a party” to the deadly attack and not directly responsible for it, the Mississauga News reported at the time .
The judge sentenced Francis to one day in custody plus time served for his role in the fatal beating as well as 18 months probation and a lifetime weapons ban. He also had to provide a DNA sample.
Then in 2012, Francis and two varsity basketball teammates were arrested and charged for a violent home invasion robbery in Kingston.
Year in prison for robbery
After pleading guilty to robbery in January 2014, Francis was sentenced in May of that year to 12 months in prison, The Kingston Whig-Standard reported .
The judge said Francis was enrolled in a social work program and was doing well academically, noting he has a younger sister with autism and that “he’s motivated to help children with disabilities.”
The judge also emphasized that prospects for rehabilitation for the sports trio were high.
However, in January 2015, Francis was slapped with a 60-day intermittent jail sentence by a Belleville judge after he pleaded guilty a month earlier to breaching probation in a human trafficking investigation.
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He was also given a lifetime weapons prohibition and probation for 18 months after he was released.
His criminality continued two years later when a Belleville judge, who withdrew a drug charge, gave Francis 12 months probation for possession of the proceeds of crime charge, Quinte News reported .
Jailed for dangerous driving
Francis’ rap sheet grew in February 2019 when a judge sentenced him to time in the slammer following a wild ride on Kingston’s streets the previous year.
He made a court appearance via video from the Central East Detention Centre in Lindsay and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop for police, the Whig-Standard reported .
After giving Francis an enhanced credit for 10 months of pretrial custody, the judge sentenced him to a further 21 months in jail for his “absolutely horrendous driving” that could have killed or injured multiple people.