On Day 2 of an Edmonton murder trial, the jury continued to watch surveillance video Tuesday showing different angles of a south-side community hall party that resulted in a deadly shooting.
It happened on Aug. 29, 2021 at Duggan Community Hall near 37th Avenue and 106th Street.
Hamza Mohamed was fatally shot.
Abdullahi Yalahow and Christopher Wilson are each charged with second-degree murder. They both pleaded not guilty on Monday.
Yalahow also pleaded not guilty to charges of intentionally discharging a firearm and unlawfully having a loaded, prohibited or restricted firearm. Wilson also pleaded not guilty to unlawfully having a loaded, prohibited or restricted firearm.
The jury and judge heard the Crown’s opening statement on Monday, where prosecutors outlined the evidence they believe will prove Yalahow and Wilson are guilty.
The Crown said CCTV video shows Yalahow shooting at Mohamed before Mohamed grabs a gun and shoots back, hitting Yalahow in the stomach. The video, the prosecutors said, also shows Wilson hitting Mohamed in the head and disarming him before a struggle ensues and Wilson grabs the gun, shooting Mohamed in the head several times.
At the start of the trial, the Crown warned the jury about “very disturbing video from some CCTV video cameras,” including images of the victim being shot in the head at point-blank range and “acts of violence being inflicted on the deceased’s body after the fatal shooting.”
There is a court-ordered publication ban preventing media from airing the surveillance video.
An agreed statement of facts, submitted in court, states there were two separate CCTV video systems at Duggan Community Hall, which are agreed to accurately show the events depicted. There was also motion-capture security footage from St. Augustine Catholic Elementary School across the road.
The agreed statement of facts also describes the restricted firearm found in the bushes at the Catholic school across from the community hall as a Glock Model 26. The documents submitted in court also conclude DNA analysis of the gun confirmed Mohamed’s blood on it.
They also describe another restricted firearm: an Israeli Weapon Industries Jericho 941 pistol recovered from Duggan Community Hall and confirm the presence of DNA belonging to Yalahow.
The agreed statement of facts state that neither of the accused had a firearms licence and that neither the Glock nor the IWI 9mm handgun were registered.
Video shown in court indicates the shooting likely started at around 4:02 a.m. When the first shots ring out, CCTV video shows the security guard — who was patting down guests entering the hall — also running out the door.
Police were seen entering the building at 4:13 a.m.
Wilson, shown on CCTV video slurring his words while trying to re-enter the community hall, is arrested by police in the parking lot.
Yalahow was injured in the shooting and taken by car to the University of Alberta Hospital where he was later arrested, court heard Monday.
Dino Bottos is Wilson’s defence lawyer. Zachary Al-Khatib is Yalahow’s defence lawyer.
On Tuesday, Al-Khatib told court there’s a “history” behind the Aug. 29 incident. He said there was a previous murder in 2018 and a retaliatory murder. Al-Khatib said the history involves gang members.
Bottos told court 14 shots came from one handgun and said that gun was the one Mohamed brought to the party, which Wilson later knocked out of his hand. He said out of the 14 gunshots fired from that gun, four are attributable to Wilson. Bottos said 10 shots can be attributed to Mohamed and he pointed out seven people were injured that night: Mohamed, Yalahow, the security guard, four other party attendees and bystanders.
The judge and jury trial is set to last 20 days.
With files from Sarah Ryan, Global News
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