Re: Shaundre Kerr-Davis
ORB File No: 7630
Hearing held on: Monday, September 15, 2025
Place of hearing: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences 700 Gordon Street, Whitby
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(2) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Mr. M.D. Segal Members: Dr. S. Nagari Dr. M. Choptiany Ms. J. Greenwood Ms. C. Plyley
Parties Appearing: Accused: Shaundre Kerr-Davis Counsel: Ms. J. Boissonneault
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. J. Szabo
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. N. MacDonald
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated November 14, 2025)
Introduction
On November 1, 2019, Mr. Shaundre Kerr-Davis was found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder, on charges of assault with a weapon, attempt theft under $5,000, carrying concealed weapon, failing to comply with a condition of his undertaking and failing to comply with a condition of a judicial release, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
Mr. Kerr-Davis is subject to terms and conditions of his Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated December 23, 2024, with Reasons for Disposition dated January 28, 2025. Pursuant to this Disposition he is detained at the General Forensic Service of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (“Ontario Shores”). This Disposition provides him with various privileges including up to living in the community in accommodations approved by the person in charge. This disposition orders Mr. Kerr-Davis to abstain from substances except for cannabis derived products purchased from a licensed dispensary.
On June 19, 2025, hospital counsel wrote to the Board to request an early hearing to review the issue of the exception to substance use permitting cannabis, and on June 20, 2025, the Board responded that it would proceed to schedule a hearing.
On September 15, 2025, the Board convened a hearing at Ontario Shores in person to conduct an annual review of Mr. Kerr-Davis’ current Disposition. Ms. Boissonault, Counsel for Mr. Kerr-Davis attended the hearing, along with Mr. Kerr-Davis.
At the hearing, the Board heard evidence from Mr. Kerr-Davis’ attending psychiatrist, Dr. Misha Hartfeil, in addition to the documentary evidence filed. The Board entered two exhibits: the Hospital Report dated August 29, 2025, and the correspondence between the hospital and the Board regarding the scheduling of an early hearing as referenced above.
The issue at this hearing, which was conceded by all parties, is whether Mr. Kerr-Davis poses a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code. If so, the necessary and appropriate disposition in the circumstances must be determined considering the factors outlined at s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
For the reasons set out below and based on the expert evidence and opinion before the panel, the Board concluded that Mr. Kerr-Davis continues to present a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board also considered the hospital’s recommendation of whether Mr. Kerr-Davis should remain abstinent from all illicit substances including cannabis.
Current Diagnoses
- Schizophrenia, alcohol and cannabis use disorders.
Index Offence
- The details of the index offences are extracted from the previous Reasons for Disposition, which are as follows:
“The following was obtained from the Durham Regional Police Service Synopses:
The accused before the court, Mr. Shaundre Kerr-Davis, did rob Mr. Marcus McVittie, contrary to Section 343 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
On Sunday, June 30, 2019, at approximately 9:30 PM, Mr. Kerr-Davis approached the victim, Mr. McVittie, in the parking lot of Sobey’s located at 955 Westney Road South, Ajax. Mr. Kerr-Davis demanded money from Mr. McVittie and proceeded to lift his shirt presenting a knife that was tucked into the waistband of his pants.
Mr. McVittie continued toward Mr. Kerr-Davis, while Mr. Kerr-Davis backed away still brandishing the knife. Mr. Kerr-Davis left the scene and made off with zero items.
On June 30, 2019, Mr. Kerr-Davis was released on an OIC Undertaking with conditions to not possess any weapons as defined by the Criminal Code.
On July 19, 2019, Mr. Kerr-Davis was reported to be on the premises of 955 Westney Road South, Ajax, the Sobey’s, breaching a condition of his Recognizance, namely “Remain off the premises of the Sobey’s, located at 955 Westney Road Street South, Ajax. Mr. Kerr- Davis was subsequently arrested for Fail to Comply with OIC Undertaking and Fail to Comply Recognizance. A search incident to arrest was conducted and a 4” kitchen knife was located on his person. Mr. Kerr-Davis was charged accordingly.”
Evidence at the Hearing
Dr. Hartfeil gave evidence at the hearing. Mr. Kerr-Davis had largely made progress over the previous reporting year but more recently had some setbacks that caused the hospital to request an early hearing.
Dr. Hartfeil initially provided updates to the Hospital Report. She advised that on September 2, 2025, Mr. Kerr-Davis was presenting with auditory hallucinations, paranoia, hypervigilance and preoccupation with peers. He was agitated and spoke about “popping off” and “fighting”. She advised that the next day he had tested positive for cannabis. Further, on September 9, 2025 when he had privileges, he drank a bottle of wine that he had in his room and admitted doing so to staff.
In order to assist Mr. Kerr-Davis with abstinence from substances, the treatment team intends to trial Mr. Kerr-Davis on a supplement called N-acetylcysteine (NAC). The team has made arrangements for the funding of this supplement so that it can be provided to Mr. Kerr-Davis through the pharmacy. Dr. Hartfeil’s evidence was that she hopes that this can be trialled as soon as it becomes available. Mr. Kerr-Davis, to his credit, has agreed to engage with the team in this trial.
Dr. Hartfeil went on to give some further evidence about what led to Mr. Kerr-Davis’ readmission into hospital. Mr. Kerr-Davis had previously been living in a group home in the community and after being permitted to administer his medication himself he missed several doses and deteriorated. He walked to Brampton over a couple of days and attended a police station, where his treatment team was ultimately contacted, and he was brought back to hospital. At point he presented as unwell with significant psychotic symptoms and required re-stabilization. He has remained in hospital since that admission and has not regained the stability he previously had before the decompensation.
The treatment team feels that Mr. Kerr-Davis would benefit from a cannabis prohibition as it is crucial to the stability of his mental state. As such, the Hospital requested the early hearing of this annual review. Dr. Hartfeil advised without a cannabis prohibition, the team is concerned that Mr. Kerr-Davis will continue to use cannabis frequently and that his use is clearly connected to agitation, conflict and other substance use such as alcohol. The team hopes that with a prohibition of Mr. Kerr-Davis’ use of cannabis, and the ability to hold privileges if he does use, will help him regain and achieve stability to allow him to move back into the community. Her evidence was that Mr. Kerr-Davis does not have external motivation to abstain from substances and hopes that this prohibition from the Board will assist.
Dr. Hartfeil was asked what may happen if the Board did not endorse the hospital’s position to implement a prohibition of cannabis. Dr. Hartfeil’s evidence was that the team believes Mr. Kerr-Davis’ use would escalate, he would not benefit from the support available to him, not make use of the counselling he is taking and continue to have conflict with peers. If the prohibition was included, Dr. Hartfeil’s evidence was that she believed the team would be able to better support him. Dr. Hartfeil went on to outline a number of ways that the team would work with Mr. Kerr-Davis to provide a creative and individualized approach to supporting him in his abstinence.
There were no questions from the Attorney General and Ms. Boissonneault’s questions followed.
Ms. Boissonneault asked Dr. Hartfeil a number of questions related to Mr. Kerr-Davis decompensation arising from his inability to administer his medication. Ms. Boissonneault asked whether not taking his medication was the result of an inability to manage rather than a refusal to take the medication. Dr. Hartfeil agreed that may be the case and also made a correction to the Hospital Report. Dr. Hartfeil indicated that the Hospital Report reads that Mr. Kerr-Davis had been cheeking his medication, when in fact he had been tasked with taking it himself but did not. Dr. Hartfeil agreed with Ms. Boissonneault that Mr. Kerr-Davis has good insight into his need to take medication and has been compliant with taking the medication since he has been in hospital.
The issue of whether Mr. Kerr-Davis has cognitive limitations was an area explored by Ms. Boissonneault. The doctor agreed that Mr. Kerr-Davis has never had any formal cognitive testing and that this would be of benefit to him. Dr. Hartfeil was not able to provide evidence on when this would occur but agreed it would be important and that the referral had been made and the team hoped it would happen within the coming year.
Lastly, Ms. Boissonneault questioned Dr. Hartfeil on the issue of whether Mr. Kerr-Davis is overly dependent on the hospital resources. Dr. Hartfeil provided evidence to the Board that the team is alive to these issues, and it was their rationale for requesting an early hearing. The team wants to work with Mr. Kerr-Davis on assessing his needs and working through the barriers to his abstinence from substances to assist him reintegrating into the community and pursuing discharge from hospital.
Ms. Boissonneault asked Dr. Hartfeil about the hospital’s process to hold privileges from Mr. Kerr-Davis. Dr. Hartfeil agreed that in 2023, Mr. Kerr-Davis had his privileges held many times and that did not assist him in his rehabilitation. Specifically, it appears that he had his privileges held 43 weeks out of 52 in 2023 and neither the cannabis prohibition nor the holding of privileges assisted him in abstaining from substances. Dr. Hartfeil was confident that the team would take a more tailored approach in the coming reporting year and work towards a privilege ladder that would assist Mr. Kerr-Davis in his rehabilitation.
There were questions from the panel of Dr. Hartfeil, specifically around the use of NAC and Dr. Hartfeil clarified that it was a supplement that had not started yet. However, the process for the supplement to be approved and covered was complete, and the pharmacy would be working towards providing this supplement to Mr. Kerr-Davis as soon as possible. The treatment team’s hope is that it will assist him in reducing cannabis use and that any side effects will be monitored by the team.
Dr. Hartfeil was also asked why the team believed that a cannabis prohibition would be an effective tool over the coming reporting year. Her evidence was that she had spoken to Mr. Kerr-Davis about this and although he has earnest intentions to abstain from use, he has great difficulty being able to follow through with those intentions and the team believes that these external prohibitions and the team’s ability to take away privileges would assist as an external motivator for Mr. Kerr-Davis.
There were no questions arising from Board questions and no additional evidence called by the parties.
Submissions
The parties proposed a joint submission and maintained their positions at the conclusion of the hearing. Hospital counsel reiterated that this prohibition would assist Mr. Kerr-Davis and interrupt the cycle he has presently been in with the hopes of him being discharged back to the community.
Counsel for the Attorney General provided submissions encouraging Mr. Kerr-Davis to continue his positive progress.
Ms. Boissonneault indicated that Mr. Kerr-Davis has had some setbacks but urged the Board to consider a number of positive steps that Mr. Kerr-Davis had taken over the last reporting year.
Analysis and Conclusions
The issue at this hearing which was conceded by all parties is whether Mr. Kerr-Davis is a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code. If so, the necessary and appropriate disposition in the circumstances must be determined considering the factors outlined in s. 672.54 of the Code.
The Board accepts the joint submission of the parties based on the expert evidence of Dr. Hartfeil and her opinion provided to the Board which concluded that Mr. Kerr-Davis continues to present a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board also considered whether Mr. Kerr-Davis should remain abstinent from all illicit substances including cannabis.
For all of the reasons described by Dr. Hartfeil and the treatment team’s opinion that Mr. Kerr-Davis should abstain from substances, the panel accepts that this prohibition is necessary and appropriate as it will provide an external motivation for Mr. Kerr-Davis and assist the treatment team in his rehabilitation and abstinence from substances. The Board was asked at the December 11th, 2023 annual review, to remove this condition, and did so. The removal of the cannabis prohibition did not assist Mr. Kerr-Davis.He decompensated and was re-admitted to hospital. The Board is hopeful that with the assistance and care of the treatment team the prohibition can provide the necessary external motivation referred to by the parties and that Mr. Kerr-Davis will abstain from cannabis, which is both in his interest and takes into account the safety of the public.
The panel further agrees that no further changes to the current Disposition are appropriate in these circumstances. Mr. Kerr-Davis will be detained at the Secure Forensic Service of Ontario Shores and that his detention is necessary and appropriate having considered his rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.
Mr. Kerr-Davis has made progress over the course of this reporting year. He has attended a number of programs and is in a structured setting which assists in managing his risk. He has done well to engage with his team and appears to have a strong rapport with them.
Although the abstinence was removed from Mr. Kerr-Davis’ Disposition last year, the parties agree in these unique circumstances it is appropriate to include it this reporting year.
The panel has carefully considered all of the evidence, the joint submission of the parties and the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Code, with the paramount consideration being the safety of the public. Further, we considered the mental state of Mr. Kerr-Davis, his reintegration into society and his other needs and his wishes to be able to reintegrate into the community. As such, the panel finds that this is the necessary and appropriate Disposition.
DATED this 14^th^ day of November 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. J. Greenwood Legal Member
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Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board