“I saw two hands come out and shoot”: On August 2, 2021, Marlon Francisco Villa Guzman received a call. On the other end of the line, his longtime friend convinced him to drive him to Rivière-des-Prairies, where “there were people in front of a place.” The driver had no idea that his passenger was armed and would be complicit in a fatal shooting.
That’s what emerged from Marlon Francisco Villa Guzman’s testimony at the trial of three men accused of triple murder. The informer’s account took the jury behind the scenes of the shooting.
Clifford Domerçant-Barosy, Stevenson Choute and Jonas Castor are accused of shooting dead Jerry Willer Jean-Baptiste, Jefferson Syla and Molière Dantes and wounding two other men in a drive-by shooting.
Marlon Francisco Villa Guzman, one of the drivers involved in the triple homicide, was initially charged and has since turned his back on the charges and is cooperating with authorities. He pleaded guilty last May to reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter, receiving a 10-year sentence.
At the time of the tragedy, the witness was driving a Pontiac Grand Prix, while Clifford Domerçant-Barosy was a passenger, he explained to the jury. He was tailgating a beige Mazda in which Jonas Castor and Stevenson Choute were, the witness alleged. He added that a fourth man whose name he does not know was in the Mazda.
His passenger gave him directions, so the driver would have had no idea where he was going. “He wanted me to go quickly,” he recalled.
The vehicles went to 9301 Boulevard Perras after a short discussion between Clifford Domerçant-Barosy and the other suspects, according to the witness’s version of events.
Then the shots rang out. “I saw two hands come out of the Mazda with guns. It started shooting,” he told the jury. The guns were Glock pistols, he said.
Total surprise: he knew nothing about the plan. He had no idea that Clifford Domerçant-Barosy was armed. He did not know that the worst was going to happen, according to what emerges from his story.
“I didn’t see it until it was time to get it out,” Villa-Guzman said of the firearm.
A call just before the shooting
According to the witness, Clifford Domerçant-Barosy called him a few hours before the shooting. The latter wanted to go to Rivière-des-Prairies.
“He told me there were people in a place.”
Marlon Francisco Villa-Guzman briefly spoke about a conflict between two groups.
Clifford Domerçant-Barosy allegedly suggested that he get rid of the vehicle involved in the triple murder the day after the event, the witness continued. “He saw what had happened on the news, as I did.”
Mr. Villa-Guzman quickly looked for a place to take his car, allegedly dropped it off at Kenny U-Pull with his accomplice and sold it for $500.
“It was the only way to get rid of the vehicle. I was afraid of what was going to happen to me,” he said.
Nervous, the 28-year-old informer stood a few meters away from his alleged accomplices on Wednesday in the courtroom. From the defendants’ box, they were positioned so as not to meet the witness’s gaze. A screen hid the view of members of the public present in the courtroom throughout the testimony.
The trial presided over by Judge Alexandre Boucher continues Thursday with the continuation of the questioning of this key witness.
Me Claude Berlinguette-Auger and Me Louis Bouthillier represents the public prosecutor.
Me Christian Gauthier and Me Mélina Le Blanc defend Stevenson Choute, Me Marc Labelle defends Clifford Domerçant-Barosy and Me Andrée-Anne Blais, Me Réginald Victorin and Mr.e Patrick Davis defends Jonas Castor.
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