Accused-turned-witness insists she ‘told the truth’
Woman tells murder trial she remained in car when Daniel Davis was killed
A woman who once faced two murder charges insists she implicated the accused, Shakeil Wheatle, not to get her charges dropped but because she is innocent and has a moral obligation to tell the truth.
“You get out of it by blaming my client,” defence lawyer Paul Aubin said to the witness during cross-examination.
“I told the truth,” she shot back during one of their many testy exchanges Wednesday in front of a Superior Court jury.
The witness cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
She is testifying at Wheatle’s firstdegree murder trial for the July 19, 2012 shooting of Daniel Davis, killed in a schoolyard near Lawrence Ave. and Allen Rd.
Davis had no criminal record and was unarmed and socializing with friends at about 1 a.m. when he was approached by three gunmen and shot multiple times. There is no evidence that he knew his killers.
The witness was one of several people charged with the murder of Davis and another man. The Crown withdrew her charges after she provided a sworn statement admitting she drove her former boyfriend, Jerome Bent, to the crime scene to meet up with Wheatle. She saw him for the first time earlier that evening and knew him only by his street name, Deegz or Deego.
The witness said she remained in her car and watched Bent join Wheatle and a third man and walk toward the schoolyard.
On Tuesday, while answering prosecution questions, she said she heard “all these bangs — loud noises,” adding, “I’m pretty sure they were gunshots. I was just hoping it wasn’t.”
When she and Bent arrived home, she said she asked him what happened. “He said he shot into the air and it was a surprise to me because I didn’t even know if he had a gun that night,” the witness said.
“Did you believe him?” asked Crown attorney Phil Tsui. “I wanted to,” she replied. The next day, she saw that a young man had been killed in a schoolyard. She also testified about suspecting Bent in other shootings, but denied a defence suggestion she was fully aware and a “getaway driver.” Bent pleaded guilty to killing Davis. The witness sparred with Aubin as he confronted her with many inconsistencies in her testimony and previous sworn statements. Agitated and annoyed, she snapped, used sarcasm, interrupted and lectured Aubin as he pointed out discrepancies.
The trial continues.