A teenager accused of stabbing another young person after school pleaded “reasonable doubt” on Wednesday to avoid being found guilty of second-degree murder.
• Read also: Teenager killed after school: “He was in pain, he was screaming in pain”
• Read also: Murder of a 16-year-old teenager: the accused would have celebrated on Instagram an hour later
“There were three people, one of them stabbed the victim […]. But the evidence is not clear [concernant l’auteur du coup de couteau]», pleaded Me Tiago Murias of the defense, this Wednesday at the closing arguments of a young man accused of killing Jannai Dopwell-Bailey in Montreal.
During his pleadings, the lawyer tried to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors, in the hope of acquitting his client for the tragedy that occurred on October 18, 2021. That day, the 16-year-old victim was leaving her classes in the Côte-des-Neiges district when she was attacked by individuals.
Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was stabbed to death on October 18, 2021, in Côte-des-Neiges, on the grounds of his school at the end of classes.
Photo AGENCY QMI, THIERRY LAFORCE
“Jannai tried to flee, but they ran after him,” an educator testified, holding back tears. The individual pushed Jannai against a wall, he held him there and the accused came in front of him, he stabbed him… then he fled.”
According to the educator, Jannai then fell to the ground.
“He was in pain, he was screaming in pain,” added Andrea Elizabeth Williams.
Testimonials
The teenager managed to get up to take refuge in the school, but he died shortly after.
The defendant, who was reportedly deported a few weeks earlier, was later charged with second-degree murder. During the trial, the Crown filed several surveillance images into evidence, demonstrating in its view that the accused was indeed the perpetrator of the murder.
Now, Me Murias does not agree. Dissecting each piece of evidence that could exonerate the accused, he asked the jury to carefully analyze the evidence, but also to pay attention to what the witnesses said during the trial.
“These people witnessed a dramatic event,” he pleaded. You have to be empathetic with them, but empathy cannot replace evaluation [de la fiabilité] of a testimony.”
Instagram video
And even if the jurors came to the conclusion that the accused was indeed the perpetrator of the murder, that does not necessarily mean that he had stabbed the victim in order to kill her, added Me Murias.
As for a video posted on Instagram showing the accused celebrating the murder an hour later, this only means that he later learned that the victim had died. But that doesn’t mean he knew at the time that a murder was going to be committed.
The trial, presided over by Judge Annie Émond, will resume next week, with instructions to the jury.
“Afterwards, it will be time to begin your deliberations,” the magistrate concluded to the jurors.