A jury in Dartmouth, N.S., has found Adam Drake, 34, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of battle rapper Pat Stay.
Cheers echoed throughout the Dartmouth courthouse Wednesday afternoon after the verdict was read out.
Only immediate family members were allowed inside the courtroom when the decision was read, while everyone else moved into a separate courtroom to watch a broadcast.
Deliberations lasted just under 24 hours.
A conviction of second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence.
“I don’t really have it in words. I’m just happy it’s over. It’s been the longest weeks of my life and I’m just happy it’s over. I feel like he’s at peace now,” Stay’s girlfriend, Malyssa Burns, told reporters.
“Losing Pat — (there) will never be closure for that but at least we can move forward with knowing that his murderer’s in jail.”
Stay, 36, was stabbed inside a Halifax nightclub in the early morning hours of Sept. 4, 2022.
The trial had centred around surveillance footage from the club, which the Crown and defence interpreted differently.
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The defence argued the video doesn’t show Drake stabbing the popular rapper, while the Crown used a process of elimination argument to conclude no one but Drake was in a position to stab Stay at the time.
“Helping people understand that they can take their time and individually look at each person and each piece in the video and work their way through it that way was crucial,” said Crown attorney Tanya Carter on Wednesday.
Stay was a father, partner and successful battle rapper, who was described as having “a huge personality, amazing sense of humour, infectious laugh and an enormous heart” in his obituary.
In the days after his death, tributes poured in — including online posts from rapper Eminem and Canadian artist Drake.
Stay’s family says their pain will never be fully healed, but there’s a sense of “relief” with the jury’s decision.
“It is relief. That’s what it is. That’d be a good way to put it,” said Burns.
Publication ban lifted on previous murder conviction
After the jury was sequestered on Tuesday, the publication ban on the verdict in the Tyler Keizer murder was lifted. The ban was in place to ensure a fair trial for Drake in the Stay case.
What the jury didn’t know was that Drake was found guilty on Oct. 25, 2024, of first-degree murder in the death of Keizer and is currently serving a life sentence.
Keizer, 22, was shot while sitting in his vehicle at the corner of Gottingen and Falkland streets in November 2016.
Drake was charged in 2019 for that crime, but the charge was withdrawn by the Crown in October 2021 — just days before the trial was set to begin.
Stay was killed a year later in September 2022.
Prosecutors reinstated the charge for Keizer’s murder in October 2022, after Drake was charged in Stay’s death.
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