It was 9:20 a.m. on a June day last year when Brandon Wyatt discharged a rifle inside a garage in a P-Patch neighbourhood.
The bullet from the .22-calibre rifle penetrated a wall and struck a neighbour's nearby Pentagon Boulevard home, a judge heard Monday.
Wyatt, 27, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in a reckless manner, possessing a firearm while prohibited and breach of probation in connection with the June 11 incident.
He also was convicted of breaching probation in January and February of last year and missing a May 6, 2022 court date.
The accused, who was in the garage with another man, pointed the weapon at the wall and pulled the trigger, prosecutor David Didiodato told Ontario Court Justice Heather Mendes.
The neighbour, who was working in his garden at the front of his house, heard the noise and contacted police.
When police responded, they located a bullet hole in the garage wall and the neighbour's brick chimney.
Officers found a number of people in the home with the garage, including the other man, who said Wyatt fired the shotgun.
Wyatt was dressed in women's clothes and identified himself as Dana, the assistant Crown attorney said.
Didiodato read a victim statement provided by the neighbour, indicating he suffers from depression, anxiety and sleep loss because of what occurred.
His wife will no longer sit on their deck with him and sleeps in the other side of the house.
"We both realize how serious it would have been if the bullet was not stopped" by the bricks.
Didiodato noted a number of aggravating factors.
Wyatt discharged the firearm in close proximity to the man who was with him in the enclosed garage.
Wyatt didn't aim at him, "but bullets can ricochet."
The bullet struck a neighbouring residence, about six feet away, hitting the two-foot wide brick chimney, which is flanked by siding, the Crown said.
This occurred in a large neighbourhood at a time when residents were going to work, school or, like the victim, working outside his home.
"A stray bullet flying through the neighbourhood" could have caused injuries, but fortunately didn't, he told Mendes.
The gunshot had an immediate and on-going impact on the neighbours' level of comfort in their home, and changed their lifestyle.
He also pointed to Wyatt's lengthy criminal record, which includes offences of violence.
Didiodato said the only mitigating factor is Wyatt's guilty plea, which came on the day of trial.
The only triable issue would have been the identity of who shot the gun.
But the subpoenaed witness, who had been in the garage with the accused, didn't show up for court.
"The case depended on his credibility, but his not attending court created a triable issue," Didiodato said, adding it is a strong case except for the issue that occurred that day.
The Crown and defence lawyer Jasmine Gassi Harnden jointly recommended that her client be sentenced to three years incarceration.
With the enhanced credit of 18-and-a-half months he received for his pre-sentence custody, Wyatt faces a further 17-and-a-half-months behind bars.
"He did something that really could have hurt somebody," she told Mendes, adding he is remorseful. "It was a very reckless decision."
Wyatt said he wanted to apologize to the victim for the emotional trauma he has suffered and to the court for taking up time with "my nonsense."
When she imposed the sentence, Mendes noted he has been involved with the justice system for five years and has "a very lengthy record" with offences of violence.
"You blatantly disregarded a weapons prohibition with an act that had a profound impact on the victim," she told him. "It changed how he and his wife enjoy their property."
The judge cited his Indigenous background, remorse and struggles with substance abuse as mitigating factors.
Wyatt will be on probation for two years with conditions, including no communication with the neigbour, once he concludes the jail term.
Mendes also imposed a life-time weapons prohibition.