On the same night, a jury found Ryan Andrews guilty of second-degree murder, the convicted killer tried to flee from custody on the streets of downtown Toronto after the court wagon he was travelling in broke down.
Andrews was convicted on May 6 for the murder of 25-year-old Gabriel Del Castillo Mullally more than two years ago. It took the jury just over one day of deliberations to reach its decision.
At a sentencing hearing Monday, assistant Crown attorney Karolina Visic read from an agreed statement of facts regarding Andrews’ escape from custody, arguing it “exemplifies his lack of taking accountability for the crime.”
On the day of his conviction, Andrews woke up at roughly 5 a.m. to be transported to court, Visic said. He spent the day in Superior Court cells, and at about 10 p.m., he was convicted by the jury.
Some 45 minutes later, two court service officers were taking Andrews back to the Toronto South Detention Centre in a court wagon when they noticed a mechanical issue as they were driving south on York Street. Andrews was handcuffed to the front of his body.
Surveillance video shown in court captured the wagon on the side of York Street, just north of Lake Shore Boulevard, in front of the Ice Tower Condos.
The court officers arranged for another wagon to transport Andrews. At 11:04 p.m., as officers were escorting Andrews in the second wagon, he broke free and began running north on York Street.
“By doing so, he escaped lawful custody,” Visic told court, referring to the video. “Mr. Andrews is depicted below in the white shirt, with six officers pursuing him. Unbeknownst to the officers, Mr. Andrews had removed one of his handcuffs and was covering his hands with his jacket when he initially exited the court wagon.”
Two police constables from 52 Division had been dispatched to the call and arrived on scene at that time. Both officers gave chase on foot for a short distance, as did three court officers.
“Police Constable Valentine managed to catch up to Mr. Andrews and ground Mr. Andrews with the assistance of Police Constable Prodhan. They successfully apprehended him at the corner of York and Bremner,” Visic said.
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Andrews was arrested and transported to the Toronto South Detention Centre.
Valentine suffered minor injuries as a result of the takedown, including scrapes to his knee, hands and elbow. Prodhan suffered a large scrape to his left knee. Andrews suffered some injuries when the officers grounded him, as well as from removing one of his cuffs.
Visic argued that Andrews’ parole ineligibility period should be set at 15 years, saying that his character should be considered.
Not only did Andrews deliberately run down Del Castillo Mullally with his vehicle outside the Rusty Nail pub on Feb. 5, 2023, but he also fled and evaded arrest for three days after, Visic said.
He was eventually captured on Feb. 8 that year.
“When the officers approached Mr. Andrews to arrest him, Mr. Andrews tried to free and struggled with the arresting officer. During the struggle, the knife that Mr. Andrews used at the Rusty Nail fell from his person onto the ground,” Visic wrote in her sentencing submissions.
“He was ultimately placed in handcuffs. He gave a fake name (Archie) and told the officer that ‘he was the wrong guy.’ He was turned over to transporting officers and continued to struggle against the officers. He tried to slip his hands free of the handcuffs. During the booking procedure, he continued to identify himself as Archie Davis.”
Defence lawyer Sherif Foda asked for a period of parole ineligibility of 10 years and argued that even if Andrews was convicted of escaping lawful custody, his sentence would be a few months at most.
“It was a long day. He was extremely disappointed with the conviction. If we look at the stresses he was dealing with, court should take that into account,” Foda said.
Andrews sat quietly in the prisoner’s box until he was given a chance to give an elocution to the court. Andrews apologized to Del Castillo Mullally’s mother, father and sister.
At trial, Andrews testified he never meant to strike Del Castillo Mullally, claiming it was an accident. Andrews, then 24, had been thrown out of the Rusty Nail pub and was angry after being sucker punched by one of Del Castillo Mullally’s friends.
Highly intoxicated, he drove up onto the sidewalk outside the pub, striking and killing Del Castillo Mullally.
Late Monday, Superior Court Justice Susanne Boucher sentenced Andrews to life in prison with a parole ineligibility period of 11 years.
Boucher rejected the defence’s request for a sentencing circle, which is a community-centric sentencing hearing reserved for Indigenous offenders.
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