A B.C. murder trial heard audio Tuesday of an innocent 15-year-old boy being fatally shot, and gut-wrenching testimony from his mother who witnessed it happen.
Alfred Wong was riding in the back seat of his parents’ car on Broadway at Ontario Street in Vancouver when he was struck by a stray bullet in what police describe as a gang shootout in January 2018.
Kane Carter has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the incident, which also left Kevin Whiteside, 23, dead, and the aggravated assault of another bystander who was grazed by a bullet.
On Tuesday, the Crown played audio from the dash camera in Wong’s family car that captured the sound of gunshots and the teen screaming in pain.
The boy’s mother, Che Wong, told the court the family had come from Coquitlam to visit their older son who was studying at UBC the day of the shooting.
They were on their way home along East Broadway around 9:30 p.m. when she heard what she thought were firecrackers — something that seemed out of place in January.
“The next thing is we heard Alfred saying, ‘Ow, ow, ow!'” she testified.
“I turned to look at him. He was in pain. You could tell from his eyes. He collapsed.”
Che described the family’s panic as they struggled to figure out what was wrong with the boy, and how Alfred stopped responding as they called 911.
Prosecutors have told the Jury Alfred was hit by a single bullet, which struck several major internal organs and caused him to lose consciousness almost immediately.
He died two days later in hospital.
Also on the stand Tuesday was Shaiful Khondoker, the man grazed by a bullet in the shooting.
He told the jury he had just finished a barber shop and was driving westbound on Broadway with his girlfriend when he heard a bang.
Moments later, he testified, he realized the bullet had grazed his face.
Under cross-examination, he was pressed as to whether he could be sure he was actually grazed by a bullet, rather than having been cut some other way such as at the barber. Khondoker did not see a doctor but did speak to paramedics at the scene.
He and his girlfriend at the time both testified to seeing someone shooting a gun but did not identify anyone.
The court has heard that Whiteside was himself in Vancouver with the aim of killing another gang rival, Matthew Navas-Rivas, when he was struck by two bullets, one in the leg and one in the head.
To secure a conviction, the Crown will need to prove the identity of the shooter. Prosecutors have conceded that the case is almost entirely circumstantial.
No one saw or recorded who pulled the trigger, forensics were unable to use the recovered bullet fragments and no murder weapon was recovered. The Crown has said it will not try and prove a motive in the killing.
The trial, which is scheduled to run until November, is expected to hear from up to 50 witnesses.