Whitehawk sentenced to life in prison for two murders in Regina

A man convicted in April on two counts of first-degree murder was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Dillon Ricky Whitehawk, 27, was found guilty by a Regina jury April 23 in connection with the drive-by shooting deaths of Jordan Denton and Keenan Toto in late 2019.

During the Court of Queen’s Bench trial, the Crown alleged the killings were gang-related.

The jury was unanimous in its verdict on both counts. On Friday, Whitehawk was handed concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years — the stiffest penalty in Canada’s Criminal Code.

Denton, who was 27, was found dead in the 800 block of Robinson Street at around 3:25 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2019. Two days later, police confirmed his death was a murder.

On Dec. 1, 2019, police responded to the 1200 block of Queen Street at about 4 a.m., for a call of a man laying in the street. When officers arrived, they found the 23-year-old Toto dead.

The next day, police said Toto had been murdered.

During the trial, the Crown said Whitehawk targeted the victims because they were wearing red — the colour of a rival Regina gang — and the killings helped advance his status within his gang.

The defence argued Whitehawk didn’t pull the trigger in either shooting, and was the fall guy for a group of people who were trying to protect themselves.

— With files from The Canadian Press