Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2018 shooting death in North Bay

A North Bay man charged with second-degree murder in the 2018 shooting of Abraham Kamerman has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

Ryan Abraham’s guilty plea was accepted by the Crown and Superior Court Justice Greg Ellies on Wednesday morning at the North Bay courthouse.

Abraham confessed to killing Kamerman, 45, the evening of Dec. 5, 2018, in what has been described as a crime involving drugs.

Crown attorney Marney Mazurski read an agreed statement of facts and she also touched on Abraham’s criminal past prior to the killing.

Abraham was already under a lifetime firearms prohibition order at the time, Mazurski said.

Court heard that on the night of the murder, Abraham and accomplice Taylor Briscoe drove to a Beattie Street apartment armed with a rifle and pellet handgun.

The pair intended to steal from a woman they knew in the building. Kamerman would often stay at the woman’s apartment.

Abraham picked up Briscoe and they dressed in dark clothes and stockings to cover their faces. The court heard Briscoe knocked on the apartment unit door and when he opened the door, Kamerman was attacked.

Abraham shot Kamerman two times. A witness inside the apartment testified they saw the end of the gun and Kamerman trying to take the weapon away or trying to get back into the unit.

Briscoe went back to the stairwell and heard an additional “five or six” shots ring out before they both fled. Abraham dropped Briscoe off at a local Tim Horton’s restaurant where he was picked up by family.

Police rushed to the scene and discovered six shotgun shells and one lodged in a door frame. The bullets were from a 19-inch Kodiak defence rifle. Kamerman was later pronounced dead in hospital from a gunshot wound.

On Dec. 8, Abraham travelled to London where he assaulted a cab driver. The driver asked him to put his bags in the trunk, but Abraham wanted to hold on to them in the back seat.

Punched, kicked taxi driver

The taxi driver became suspicious and an argument ensued. Abraham punched and kicked the driver before trying to steal the taxi. The driver was able to grab the keys and ran into a nearby retirement home asking for help.

Before police arrived, Abraham went back to the building where he threatened to kill a man, demanding his car keys. He took the stolen car, but left the bags behind.

Inside the bags were clothing and two guns: the same 19-inch rifle and a sawed-off shotgun as well as a barrel from unknown gun.

An iPhone left in the stolen car led police directly to the vehicle, but the suspect was gone.

At that point, Abraham contacted his sister who picked him up and he told her about his troubles with the law. She called London police, who eventually apprehended him without incident and transferred him to North Bay police.

Abraham was then charged with second-degree murder.

A date for his sentence hearing will be determined Feb. 10.

Abraham’s accomplice, Briscoe, was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in 2019. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence in jail.