A man from Halifax, aged 35, has admitted to the murder of a man in a parked vehicle along a city street just two days after another fatal shooting in a West End home. Tyrell Peter Dechamp, who was set to face a jury trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, instead pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Naricho Clayton on April 19, 2016.
Dechamp confessed to firing multiple shots at the vehicle on Gottingen Street, where Clayton was fatally shot while carrying a loaded handgun. Additionally, Dechamp pleaded guilty to attempted murder for shooting Ricardo Whynder, who was in the vehicle with Clayton but survived the attack.
The sentencing for Dechamp is scheduled for October 15, with second-degree murder carrying an automatic life sentence. He is currently serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Tyler Richards on April 17, 2016, following a conviction in 2020. The media can now report on previously banned information, including Dechamp’s previous conviction and the circumstances of both murders.
Richards, a former basketball player, was killed in a drug-related incident where he was tied up and shot multiple times. The Crown prosecutor described Richards’s murder as a “brutal, execution-style homicide.” Dechamp’s disregard for human life was emphasized during the sentencing hearing, with a victim impact statement reflecting the profound loss experienced by Richards’s family.
Justice Jamie Campbell expressed deep sympathy for the victims and their loved ones, highlighting the tragic consequences of involvement in the drug trade. Dechamp’s appeal against his conviction was dismissed by Nova Scotia’s Court of Appeal in 2024. The court proceedings shed light on the devastating impact of violence and crime associated with drug activities in the community.
