KITCHENER -- At a sentencing hearing in Kitchener on Friday, court heard the story of two friends: one is now dead, the other sentenced to a six-year prison term for the role he played in his friend’s death.
In June, 26-year-old Adam De-Gannes pleaded guilty to manslaughter in relation to the November 2018 shooting death of 24-year-old Bradley Pogue.
According to court documents obtained by CTV News Kitchener, police located De-Gannes in a taxi cab the morning after the shooting. Immediately after he was arrested, De-Gannes said “You guys don’t have to be nice to me. I know I’m f*****… All I’m gonna say is that guy was my friend. He didn’t deserve that.”
The night before, on November 19, 2018, Waterloo regional police were called to Brierdale Plaza in Cambridge just after 8:00 pm. Court documents show Pogue’s older brother Codi dialed 911 “indicating his brother had been shot in the head.”
The autopsy revealed Bradley Pogue had been shot twice: once in the buttocks, and once in the back of the head.
Court documents show De-Gannes knew the Pogue brothers from St. Benedict’s Secondary School.
The documents also show that De-Gannes tried to reestablish a relationship with Codi Pogue weeks before Bradley’s death. There was no further contact between the two after a brief text exchange on October 3, 2018.
While De-Gannes was known to the Pogue brothers and others as “Smokey,” he also went by the rap name “Big Powder.”
When speaking to the judge on Friday, De-Gannes’ lawyer, Malcolm McCrae, said “he’s a talented musician who was gripped by his addiction to fentanyl.”
Court heard De-Gannes used fentanyl daily. And according to court documents, De-Gannes’ rap music included lyrics about money, his drug dealing in powdered substances, his own drug use, his possession/use of firearms, and his disrespect for the police.
In the months leading up to the incident, De-Gannes had a number of upset customers over bad product. Others, including a youth, were also mad at De-Gannes because of money that De-Gannes owed to them.
That youth is charged with second degree murder in relation to Pogue’s death. He can’t be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
According to the documents, in order to pay back that debt to the youth, De-Gannes set up a drug deal with Bradley Pogue, where Pogue would sell De-Gannes a pound of marijuana for $1700.
The court documents show, “Codi Pogue did not trust De-Gannes and attended specifically to try to ensure” his brother didn’t get ripped off by De-Gannes. The Pogue brothers went to the “meet” without weapons.
Court heard De-Gannes initially denied setting up the drug rip off. However, he later acknowledged his involvement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He maintains he did not intend for Bradley Pogue to be killed. De-Gannes was not the shooter.
Before De-Gannes was sentenced, Pogue’s mother tearfully read out a rhythmic poem to the young rap artist during her victim impact statement.
“I lost my child today
People came to weep and cry
as I just sat and stared, dry eyed
They struggled to find words to say
to try and make the pain go away
I walked the floor in disbelief
I lost my child today.
I lost my child last month
Most of the people went away
Some still call and some still stay
I wait to wake up from this dream
This can't be real, I want to scream
Yet everything is locked inside
God, help me, I want to die
I lost my child last month.
I lost my child last year
Now people who had came, have gone
I sit and struggle all day long
to bear the pain so deep inside
And now my friends just question Why?
Why does this mother not move on?
Just sits and sings the same old song
Good heavens, it has been so long
I lost my child last year.
Time has not moved on for me
The numbness it has disappeared
My eyes have now cried many tears
I see the look upon your face
"She must move on and leave this place"
Yet I am trapped right here in time
The song’s the same, as is the rhyme
I lost my child.........today”
(poem by Netta Wilson)
A preliminary hearing for the youth charged with second degree murder in Pogue’s death is scheduled to begin Wednesday. That hearing is to determine whether there’s enough evidence for him to go to trial. The allegations against the youth have not been tested in court.
Pogue’s mother, Hayley Schultz, lives in Peterborough. Schultz tells CTV News Kitchener she plans to attend the upcoming hearing in Kitchener.
“I will forever do whatever I can to ensure justice is done for my son Bradley.”
