On February 6th of this year, near 5pm, 42-year-old Stevens Cantave was found dead, slumped in the driver’s seat of a strip mall which included a Guzzo cinema, a World Gym and multiple restaurants in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a city on the island of Montreal. This incident had occurred near the intersection of Boulevard Brunswick and Des Sources. 2 suspected shooters were involved and seen fleeing in a stolen vehicle which authorities had recovered the day after the shooting.
This past Thursday (18/07/2024), police apprehended one of the shooters in another province. SPVM investigators travelled to Kitchener, Ontario where they arrested a 16-year-old who was serving time at a detention center for an armed robbery. The 16-year-old appeared in court through video conference on the 19th of July, a day after he had been apprehended. He was charged with first-degree murder.
The murder of Stevens Cantave, nicknamed ‘No Chance’ marked the fifth murder which occurred in Montreal this year. We’ve known that the Cantave was close to the Plan Bellechase which is a street gang which operates in the Rosemont borough of Montreal. Cantave was also allegedly an associate to the now-deceased gangster, Gregory ‘Picasso’ Woolley.
It’s no doubt that Cantave’s shooting was something organized by a crime faction. His criminal history only goes to prove this point. In 2003, Cantave was accused of drug-trafficking, along with a kidnapping charge with 2 other individuals. He was acquitted of the kidnapping charge but convicted of the drug-trafficking charge.
One of the other men charged with kidnapping, went by the name of Jackenson Raymond. Raymond was later found dead, with his throat slit in a Rosemont apartment in January of 2007. Cantave has also been said to be friends with Atna ‘2-Pac’ Onha, another gangster who ‘reps’ the color ‘blue’ and is in deep with organized crime throughout the island of Montreal.
Furthermore, Cantave was also friends with Marckens Vilme, a member of the Ruffriders, who is currently serving time for the murder of Hells Angels MC member Michael ‘Diaz’ Deabaitua-Schulde. The Ruffriders are a gang that claim the color ‘blue’ and are close to the Hells Angels MC in the province of Quebec. They operate to the West of the island of Montreal. Schulde was part of the Niagara Chapter in Ontario and was shot down outside of a gym in Mississauga in March of 2019. Marckens Vilme was with three other accomplices on the day of the murder.
Three of the four suspects had been apprehended a few days after the shooting, including Vilme, Brandon Reyes and Marc Issa El-Khoury, stood trial in court, only El-Khoury was acquitted of the crime. The fourth suspect, a Montreal native from the Saint-Leonard borough by the name of Joseph Pallotta decided to flee. 6 days after a country-wide warrant was issued for his arrest. Pallotta had decided to turn himself in on March 17th, 2019.
It is clear as day that Stevens ‘No Chance’ Cantave’s murder was a contracted hit. With friends like Cantave had, it’s hard to say which crime faction was responsible for this killing. It would be ignorant and costly to assume and write about it as if it were presented as fact. The 16-year-old suspect also still needs to stand trial before he is convicted of the shooting. The second suspect has not been apprehended yet.
We can only wonder if his death had anything to do with the murder of Deabaitua-Schulde, or if that incident was completely out of context. Some media outlets are hypothesizing that the Deabaitua-Schulde murder was the start of the alleged ongoing strife between crime factions in Quebec. All we know is things are starting to heat up in the province of Quebec.
