Man pleads guilty to being getaway driver in drug-related killing

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Being the getaway driver in the day’s fatal shooting of a man on a suburban Calgary street has earned a city resident the equivalent of a three-year prison sentence.

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But because of prior sentencing, Troy Lemke will not have to serve any further prison time.

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On Wednesday, Judge Robert Hall accepted a joint Crown and defense submission for a sentence of time served, followed by two years of probation.

Lemke (38) pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to murder after the fact. He was also charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Christian Navos on July 14, 2020, but Crown prosecutor Zailin Lakhoo withdrew that charge.

According to a statement of agreed facts read by Lakhoo and signed by Lemke and attorney Gavin Wolch, the offender was asked by his drug dealer, Joseph Chlala, to pick him up in Okotoks.

Lakhoo said Lemke arrived in Okotoks shortly before 3:00 p.m. that day and picked up Chlala and a young man.

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“Lemke picked up Chlala and (the youth) and transported them to the (Calgary) neighborhood of Legacy,” said the prosecutor.

“Lemke believed he drove Chlala to Legacy for Chlala to engage in some criminal activity. Lemke believed he would receive drugs as payment for running Chlala.”

Once there, the offender in a Mercedes owned by a family member drove slowly around the area in what one witness described as “beating the neighborhood.”

“Lemke then pulled up his Mercedes just feet away from where Navos was parked,” Lakhoo told Hall.

“The Mercedes was in the middle of the road, running, and Lemke’s foot was on the brake. He didn’t pull over to the curb or park,” she said.

The youth and Chlala walked to Navos’ vehicle where the youth “shot Navos seven times … while Navos was sitting in the driver’s seat of his Jeep, still wearing his seat belt.”

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Lakhoo said Navos was not armed but had a handgun in a hidden compartment of the driver’s door.

She says Lemke could see how Navos was shot through the rearview mirror of his vehicle, before the other two men got in and he drove away.

Within eight to 10 minutes, a HAWCS helicopter spotted the Mercedes eastbound on Stoney Trail near 52nd Street SE and followed it from there until it finally stopped in the northeast community of Rundle.

There, the three occupants fled, but were arrested shortly afterwards. A subsequent search of the Mercedes turned up a loaded Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun that was the weapon used to kill Navos.

At the time of the shooting, police said Navos’ murder was drug-related.

Wolch told Hall his client had a rough life, including being abused by his older brother.

A juvenile is scheduled to stand trial in the new year, while Chlala has an appearance set for January 17.

The facts that Lemke admitted were not proven against any of the accused.

KMartin@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @KMartinCourts