Christopher Lucas, 27, was convicted Saturday to two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Juliana Pannunzio, 20, and Christine Crooks, 18, of Toronto.
“It's definitely a bittersweet time in our lives,” Shellie Pannunzio, Juliana’s ‘bonus’ mom told CTV News Monday.
“We're happy that we have a little bit of justice. I don't think that we're ever going to be completely satisfied with any verdict or any sentencing, because we will never have her again.”
"I was so happy that he (Lucas) was going to be held accountable," Pannunzio's mother Lisa Mulcaster said in an interview from St. Catharine's Monday.
"No more lies, having to listen to any more lies. The jury saw through all of that misdirection."
Pannunzio and Crooks were shot and killed at a birthday party in Fort Erie on January 19th, 2021.
Pannunzio only knew Crooks at the party; Crooks only knew the shooter, Christopher Lucas, who was invited by Trevor Barnett. It was Barnett’s birthday party.
The jury learned – during the 34-day trial – Lucas went to the party wearing a bulletproof vest.
An argument started – over what the family will never know – between Lucas and Crooks.
Crooks was shot first.
The crown believes Pannunzio was then shot four times because she was the only person willing to call for help.
"(Juliana) didn't think about herself. She did what was right. She said she was going to call 911 and for that she was gunned down," Mulcaster said. "She was murdered because she had principles."
“The hardest thing to hear was the fact is something we didn't hear, which was the truth of what happened and how it happened, and that they actually saw things and heard things,” Pannunzio said Monday.
A call was made to 911, but more than an hour after the shooting. The jury learned Crooks might have survived if someone had called 911 right away.
Of all the partygoers who testified, none of them could or would identify the shooter. Many were accused of outright lying on the stand by the prosecution during closing arguments.
Pannunzio describes the long days sitting in court as “…exhausting. Emotionally draining. It was nonstop, up and down emotions.”
The jury deliberated for two full days – going well into the evening both days – before returning after lunch Saturday with a verdict.
“That last hour was excruciating, trying to stay upbeat,” Pannunzio says. “You know, we're hoping for the best, but trying to prepare ourselves for the worst.”
The judge gave media, Niagara Police and crown attorneys nearly an hour to get back to the Welland courthouse for the verdict.
"When they finally said they had a verdict, you're like, 'Oh, my God, it all comes down to this. And what if it isn't what we want?'," Mulcaster recalls thinking Saturday.
The jury was asked first for their verdict for Crooks. Guilty, as charged, the foreperson told the court.
“I just was crying so hard because I knew that if it was guilty for her, it would be guilty for Juliana as well. And I… I just I… I felt such an instant relief,” Pannunzio says.
In the moments after court adjourned, Pannunzio says the lawyers, and police hugged one another, before a tearful celebration with their family.
Pannunzio says the Niagara Police detectives, and Crown Attorneys Jody Ostapiw and Barbara Bujnowski are now “family”.
“They have dedicated five years to this, and they have spent time away from family and friends, and they've put us first more often than not,” Pannunzio says. “I can't even express the level of gratitude that we have for each and every one of them.”
"They all made it personal and they fought for her," Mulcaster said of police and prosecutors. "The investigators got us to the line and Ms. Ostapiw's closing (arguments) got us across line."
After a private celebration, Pannunzio says she and her husband Mark got a good nights’ sleep for the first time in a long time.
Mulcaster says for the first time in five years, she was actually able to sleep overnight January 18th, going into the fifth anniversary of Juliana's death.
“It was a relief to go to bed that night knowing… knowing that we had victory,” she says. “We felt like we had been holding our breath for five years. And we don't have to hold our breath anymore.”
A date for sentencing will be scheduled February 23rd.
A conviction of second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison, but the judge must decide how long Lucas must serve before he can apply for parole, anywhere from 10 to 25 years.
Nine of the jurors suggested 25 years; the three remaining jurors didn’t offer a recommendation for Justice Ramsey.
CTV News has reached out to the crown attorneys for comment.
Defence lawyer John Fitzmaurice declined to comment.
-Written by CTV Windsor's Michelle Maluske