Canadian diplomat's son in deadly Florida shooting deported home

Wabafiyebazu's mother and lawyer and US authorities could not be immediately reached for comment


Reuters September 26, 2016
Marc Wabafiyebazu sits in court during his bail hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami, Florida May 27, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

A Canadian diplomat’s teenage son has been deported from the United States following his involvement in a fatal drug-related shooting, effectively nullifying the house arrest and probation he had been sentenced to serve, a national news agency reported on Sunday.

Marc Wabafiyebazu, 15 at the time of the Miami shooting, was deported on Sept. 6, according to the Canadian Press.

The news agency did not clearly cite its source, but quoted the teen's mother, Roxanne Dube, Canadian consul general in Miami at the time of the incident, as saying: "It's done. It's done. It's done. ... He has his life ahead of him."

Wabafiyebazu was sentenced this year to nine months of boot camp, followed by two years of house arrest and up to eight years of probation.

Under a deal with the prosecution, Wabafiyebazu pleaded no contest to two counts of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and attempted armed robbery involving the botched March 2015 marijuana deal.

Wabafiyebazu's older brother, 17-year-old Jean Wabafiyebazu, and a suspected drug dealer, died in the incident, and under Florida law, anyone who participates in a violent felony in which someone dies can be charged with murder.

Wabafiyebazu's mother and lawyer and US authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

Canada's foreign affairs department, which employs Dube, declined to comment, calling the matter "personal."

The Canadian Press reported that US federal officials started deportation procedures against Wabafiyebazu as he was completing boot camp, against the protests of Florida state authorities who wanted him to complete his full sentence.

According to the foreign ministry, Roxanne Dube is now director general of its Canadian Foreign Service Institute in Ottawa.

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