Closing arguments began Thursday in the case of two men accused of second-degree murder in a fatal shooting at an Edmonton community hall in 2021.
It happened just after 4 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2021, at the 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.
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.
A third man has been charged with manslaughter and is scheduled for trial in June 2024. He’s not part of this trial, however.
Six other people, including Yalahow, were also shot and injured in the hail of gunfire.
On Thursday, the lawyer for Yalahow outlined his client’s defense for the first time, after choosing not to call any evidence.
Zachary Al-Khatib told the jury his client not testifying in his own defence isn’t an admission of guilt nor is it indicative of him hiding something.
He also argued the Crown’s case was riddled with holes.
Al-Khatib said Yalahow didn’t fire the fatal shots; Wilson did. He said what the jury needs to consider in this case is what Yalahow meant when he yelled: “Yo! Hit him! Grease him!” to his friend seconds before Wilson shot Mohamed three times at close range, which CCTV video presented in court showed.
Al-Khatib questioned “Did the words cause the death of Mohammed? I’ll say that wasn’t clear.”
“He didn’t yell out: ‘Kill him.’ … It’s an ambiguous phrase.”
Al-Khatib said his client might have yelled those words in shock, or maybe he feared for his life and said them in self defence.
“I’m not telling you that Mr. Yalahow is a saint, that he’s a blameless person.”
Al-Khatib said the jury should acquit his client of the murder charge, and instead find him guilty of firearms offences, for bringing a loaded gun to the hall party that night.
Wilson’s defence lawyer, Dino Bottos, started his closing arguments later on Thursday. He began by noting the jury knows some things for certain.
“Who was the shooter? Kristopher Wilson. Who was the killer? Kristopher Wilson,” Bottos said.
“But what was in his mind? Why did he act the way he did? Why did he shoot?”
Bottos reminded the jury his client testified he has no memory of the shooting.
“He is unable to help us in terms of his own subjective thought process at the time,” Bottos said.
“His memory goes black. His memory does not return to him until after his arrest at the police station.”
Earlier in the trial, Bottos suggested his client was too intoxicated — both by marijuana and alcohol — to have properly known what he was doing.
The Crown is expected to give its closing arguments Friday.
With files from Emily Mertz, Global News