A man accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Calgary Remand Centre will represent himself during his two-week first-degree-murder trial.
Marlon Ledesma is accused attacking and killing Alvin Chiniquay, 40, on Sept. 9, 2016.
A defence lawyer has been appointed to be in the courtroom to ensure Ledesma receives a fair trial, though he does not represent the accused.
READ MORE: Accused killer Marlon Ledesma makes 1st court appearance
Chiniquay was kept on life support for more than 10 days before he passed away.
In his opening statement, Crown prosecutor Todd Buziak told the court the entire incident was caught on CCTV surveillance video.
The graphic video showing the attack was shown in court Monday morning.
Buziak said it’s alleged Ledesma attacked Chiniquay twice — the first attack was approximately two minutes and the second attack was approximately seven minutes — then was seen washing his hands and face in the cell before pushing a call button to advise the attending guard of “an incident.”
Ledesman’s mother Cherry Ledesma was the victim of murder. She was killed by her husband Gregory Houle in Nov. 2011.
READ MORE: Family of victim fears Calgary Remand inmate beating was a hate crime
At the time of his death, Chiniquay’s family told Global News he was not violent and couldn’t comprehend why he was attacked.
His family said he has had a rough life. His mother died when he was just 10. From that moment on, his life was never the same, they said. He struggled with addictions and fell into a vicious cycle of petty crime to support his habits.
Buziak said he has a total of eight witnesses to call during the trial. The first four are all corrections officers from the Remand Centre.
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