Accused plotted to kill girlfriend, but shot friend instead, court told
Prosecutors argued a man on trial for first-degree murder meant to shoot his girlfriend, but instead killed her friend, during closing arguments Wednesday.
Lenny Lavallee, 34, is charged in the 2016 shooting death of Nicole Leanne Cooney, 30.
While making closing submissions for the Crown in a trial that began March 5, prosecutor Aleisha Bartier outlined the Crown’s theory: that Lavallee’s real target was his girlfriend, Cooney’s friend Theresa Butler.
Bartier said during Lavallee and Butler’s three-month relationship, he often became jealous of other people in Butler’s life, and threatened to kill her and her dog on multiple occasions.
On the night of April 17, 2016, Butler went out to walk her dog and ran into Cooney, who joined her. It was dark, and Cooney was holding the dog ’s leash. Butler, who testified during the trial, said she heard Lavallee shout at her, and when she turned, she saw him standing behind Cooney.
“She yelled at Nicole to run, but it was too late. Nicole was shot through the heart and the lung,” Bartier said.
Lavallee fled to an acquaintance’s nearby home and hid in the attic, remaining there for five hours while a police tactical unit tried to convince him to come out.
Bartier acknowledged her case is circumstantial, but said the evidence taken all together makes it clear he took steps to carry out the shooting. “The evidence of planning and deliberation is unavoidable,” Bartier said.