Grandfather recalls Sundays with teen girl killed in Danzig shooting

The grandfather of a teen girl gunned down in the Danzig Street shooting four years ago says his favourite grandchild used to call and visit him every Sunday.

Tyrone Charles says he has fond memories of Shyanne Charles, whom he described as a loving and forgiving child who "showed me the truth."

Shyanne was one of two people killed on July 16, 2012 when gunfire erupted at a block party in Scarborough. The other person was Joshua Yasay, 23. More than 20 others were wounded.

• Danzig Street shooter deserves a second chance, victims' relatives say

Charles delivered an emotional victim impact statement at a sentencing hearing Friday for a 21-year-old man convicted of second degree murder in the shooting.

"Every Sunday, it was like friends day. She would call me at 10 o'clock ... on the dot," Charles told Metro Morning on Tuesday. '' 'Yo! What's up?' It was the same old routine."

Shyanne would ask him what he was cooking. "I'd say, 'Your favourites: rice and peas, potato salad, macaroni pie, fried chicken, stewed chicken, roast beef, and curry goat.Then all of sudden she'd say, 'See ya.' Click.

"Whatever I'm doing in the kitchen, you bet your bottom dollar, at 12 o'clock on the dot, as I turn around, she'd be in front of me with two bowls and a big smile."

Charles said her death has left him with a pain he would not wish on his worst enemy. 

'I had 14 good years'

"I get emotional when it comes to her. I had 14 good years. Now I have that to cherish. No regrets," he said. "It's a pain that there's no cure for you but time."

Charles said his granddaughter was his favourite of seven because she had a positive impact on his life. 

"She made me realize there are three sides of life: the right, the wrong and the truth. What's wrong could be right in a court of law if you have money or a good lawyer. But the truth is reality and you can't change it. She made me live my life truthfully."

He and Shyanne also shared a love of style. Whenever he bought new shoes or she bought new nail polish, they would exchange photos and give advice to one another on what to wear with it.

"We had a nice granddaughter and grandfather communication."

Charles said he will forgive the shooter when he makes a change in his life but the shooter has to forgive himself first and become a better person.

"No, I don't forgive him, not because of anger. For me to forgive him, he has to forgive himself first, by doing the right thing," he said.

"If he is a good person, he will make that change. And then I could afford to say, 'Yes, he's changed.'' I could forgive him."

Charles said the shooter can still make positive change in the world and he does not want to judge.

"I realize that the easy way out is getting angry," he said.

'There is a better way'

Charles said he would like to say to him: "When things are bad, don't make it worse. It's bad enough that you are in a predicament where your life is on hold. Use it wisely whatever time you get. Don't sit around and ponder negativity. It won't ease the pain and bring them back.

"You have a chance to make a difference. If young people who are looking at you as you are some kind of symbol, tell them, 'No, that's not the right way.' There is a better way."

The convicted shooter cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was underage at the time of the shooting.

At the sentencing hearing, Charles told the killer: "My son, it's sad to see ... but I hope this time, whatever the judge decides to give you, you don't look at it like a punishment. You look at it as a second chance at life. Shyanne didn't get hers, Josh didn't get his ... You get yours, use it."