An Ontario man who shot and killed a 17-year-old during a drug dispute has been sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. Donte’a Mitchell, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2023 death of Robert David McIntosh in Owen Sound and to a separate charge of possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking stemming from an incident near Sudbury. The sentence was delivered by Superior Court Justice Conlan on September 9, 2025, following a sentencing hearing in late August1.
The tragic series of events unfolded over the summer of 2023. The court heard that both Mr. Mitchell and Mr. McIntosh were in Owen Sound to sell drugs. In the early morning hours of July 11, 2023, a conflict over drugs or money erupted between the two inside an apartment. Mr. Mitchell confronted the teenage Mr. McIntosh with a firearm, believed to be a semi-automatic pistol. A struggle broke out, during which three shots were fired in rapid succession. Two of the bullets struck Mr. McIntosh, with the fatal shot entering the top of his head. Following the shooting, Mr. Mitchell and an accomplice immediately fled the scene, offering no aid to the victim. An agreed statement of facts presented to the court confirmed that while Mr. Mitchell intended to confront Mr. McIntosh, he did not go to the apartment with the specific intent to kill him. Mr. Mitchell remained at large for over a month before he was located and arrested by police in Sudbury on August 22, 2023.
The manslaughter charge was not Mr. Mitchell’s only serious offence before the court. Less than a month before the fatal shooting, he was involved in a significant drug trafficking operation. On June 19, 2023, police conducting a large-scale drug investigation stopped a vehicle travelling north towards Sudbury on Highway 69. Mr. Mitchell was a passenger in the back seat along with two other people. All three were arrested, and a search of the car uncovered a substantial quantity of illicit drugs. Inside a bag belonging to a female occupant, police found 45.73 grams of fentanyl, 2.16 grams of crack cocaine, and two cutting agents. Despite the drugs being in his companion’s bag, Mr. Mitchell admitted to the court that he was in possession of the narcotics and that he intended to traffic them in the Sudbury area. Police also seized four cell phones from the vehicle, one of which was used exclusively by Mr. Mitchell. An analysis of electronic communications from the days leading up to the arrest confirmed that Mr. Mitchell and the other occupants were actively engaged in trafficking narcotics, including fentanyl.
During the sentencing hearing, Justice Conlan was presented with details about Mr. Mitchell’s personal background. At 27 years old, he appeared before the court as a first-time offender with no prior criminal record. He was raised by a single mother after his father, who had substance abuse issues and was largely absent from his life, died when he was nine. Mr. Mitchell, the youngest of six children, did not finish high school and had a work history in construction, demolition, and car detailing. He had a history of alcohol abuse.
A significant factor in the sentencing was the time Mr. Mitchell spent in pre-sentence custody and the conditions he endured. He was incarcerated for 750 days awaiting the resolution of his case. In an affidavit not challenged by the Crown, Mr. Mitchell detailed his experience in three separate provincial detention centres: Central North Correctional Centre, Toronto South Detention Centre, and Maplehurst Correctional Complex. He described overly harsh conditions, including extensive overcrowding that led to triple bunking for at least 178 days at Maplehurst. He also cited a lack of programming, significant difficulties communicating with his lawyer, very poor hygienic conditions, and numerous lockdowns, including more than 170 at Maplehurst alone. The court acknowledged these conditions were a powerful mitigating factor in determining his final sentence.
The Crown and defence presented starkly different positions on an appropriate sentence. Crown prosecutors argued for a total prison term of 13 years, composed of a 10-year sentence for manslaughter and a consecutive three-year sentence for fentanyl trafficking. The Crown emphasized the toxic combination of drugs and firearms, citing case law that describes it as a “pernicious and persisting threat to public safety.” They argued that denunciation and deterrence were the paramount sentencing objectives and that Mr. Mitchell’s actions merited a severe sentence, positioning his manslaughter conviction within the typical eight to 12 year range for such offences. For the fentanyl charge, the Crown highlighted the deadly nature of the drug and Mr. Mitchell’s significant role in trafficking a large quantity to a northern community.
In contrast, defence counsel argued for a global sentence of eight years. The defence stressed that Mr. Mitchell’s guilty pleas, which came in the face of genuinely triable issues, his lack of any prior criminal record, and the harsh conditions of his pre-sentence custody should be given significant weight. Counsel submitted that sentencing ranges are guidelines, not mandatory, and presented cases where judges had imposed lower sentences for similar offences due to compelling mitigating factors.
In his decision, Justice Conlan sought to balance these competing arguments. He noted that the paramount principles of sentencing in this case were denunciation and deterrence, but that rehabilitation also had to be considered for a young, first-time offender. The judge agreed with the Crown on several aggravating factors. For the manslaughter, these included firing the gun multiple times inside an apartment where others were present and fleeing the scene. For the fentanyl trafficking, the judge pointed to the insidious nature of the drug, the large quantity involved, Mr. Mitchell’s motivation of pure greed, and his use of a female accomplice to shield himself from police.
However, Justice Conlan also accepted the major mitigating factors put forward by the defence: the guilty pleas, the absence of a criminal record, and the particularly difficult time spent in pre-sentence custody. Ultimately, the judge concluded that the 13 years sought by the Crown was too high, as it did not give enough consideration to the mitigating factors and the totality principle, which requires an overall sentence to be just and appropriate. He also found the eight years proposed by the defence to be “simply too lenient” for the gravity of the offences.
Justice Conlan imposed a global sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. He structured the sentence as 8.5 years for the manslaughter conviction and a consecutive term of 1.5 years for the fentanyl trafficking. He explained that while the crimes were separate and required consecutive sentences, the fentanyl sentence was “tempered so as not to offend the totality principle.” After applying credit for his 750 days in pre-sentence custody at an enhanced ratio of 1.5 to 1, Mr. Mitchell was credited with 1,125 days, or approximately 3.08 years. This leaves him with a remaining sentence of 6.92 years to serve. In addition to the prison term, Mr. Mitchell is subject to a lifetime firearms prohibition, must provide a DNA sample, and is under a court order not to communicate with four named individuals.
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