Three Men Convicted In Largest Street Gang Trial In Canadian History

Raw emotion was on display Wednesday when a jury convicted three men in the biggest street gang trial in Canadian history.

Friends and family members of the accused, and the victims, packed the courthouse, and their reactions varied when the verdict was read, but one thing was certain --- several families were shattered by the events that brought them together Wednesday.

Lives were not only lost to senseless violence, but thrown away in the process of perpetrating the criminal acts.

Tyshan Riley, 26, Phillip Atkins, 26, and Jason Wisdom, 23, were all convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and committing murder for the benefit of a criminal organization.

Prosecutors argued that the convicted men, members of the Galloway Boys, were part of a frightening crime wave that saw them target people they believed to be from the rival Malvern Crew.

More often than not, however, innocent people were victimized.

One such person, Brenton Charlton, was killed after being shot at several times. His friend, Leonard Bell, survived, but still has numerous medical problems related to the four bullets still lodged in his chest.

"Only on the rarest of occasions were the targets that they caught and shot involved in criminal activity," said Det. Sgt. Dean Burks. "For the most part the people that were shot and wounded or shot and killed by these people were completely innocent victims."

Charlton's grieving mother, Valda Williams, also said she felt for the families of the convicted gang members.

"I felt if for them too because no mother wants to see their child die, or see their children in jail," she said.

The star witness in the case was a former member of the Galloway Boys.

Two of the three men still face murder charges in other shootings but the Crown hasn't yet decided how to proceed.