Gang leader accused of ordering hit
Toronto rapper protests innocence, saying murder is ‘bad for business’
A Toronto gang leader accused of masterminding the execution of a man he had known since childhood finished testifying Friday after maintaining for days he had nothing to do with the death of Neeko Mitchell.
This week, prosecutor Liz Nadeau spent days cross-examining Jermaine Dunkley about his actions on Nov. 24, 2013, the night Mitchell was shot eight times outside the North Kipling Community Centre where a basketball tournament was underway.
The Crown’s theory is that Dunkley, leader of a drug-dealing Toronto crew called Monstarz, instructed his cousin, Reshane Hayles-Wilson, to follow Mitchell outside and shoot him. Dunkley, the prosecution alleges, believed Mitchell was connected to the death months earlier of his younger brother, Ricky.
The Crown’s case relies on surveillance video from the community centre that shows Dunkley interacting with Hayles-Wilson and his co-accused, Sheldon Tingle, minutes before the murder. Dunkley and Tingle have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Nadeau challenged Dunkley, who performs as rapper J Noble, on the meaning of one of his lyrics, which the Crown alleges is an instruction to kill his brother’s assassin “on sight.”
Dunkley testified the lyric did not mean shooting someone, rather it was telling whoever killed Ricky that it’s highly likely there would be an altercation and that he would “punch” him.
Nadeau also questioned why, as a gang leader, he would run out the door of the community centre where a shooting just happened, putting his own life imperil, and past the body of a man he knew well.
“I wasn’t the only one (who ran),” Dunkley said in response.
Dunkley continued to insist Friday he had no issue with Mitchell.
At one point, Nadeau asked Dunkley about testifying that he was angry at Hayles-Wilson, who is his cousin, for shooting Mitchell, because it was “bad for business.”
“It was everything, the whole package,” Dunkley replied, not disagreeing. “He shot Neeko for one. He caused a big conflict between two families that were very close, we’re kind of like distanced now, yup I was there … everything.” Nadeau asked again. “Why was it bad for business?”
“As an entertainer, you don’t want to be a part of, or be around anything like that. That’s not good marketing,” Dunkley said.
The prosecutor pressed further.
“As long as you’re not charged, doesn’t that kind of boost your street credibility?”
Dunkley attempted again to explain why a murder or shooting is “bad for business.”
“No one is going to rent you a venue ... put their name on one of your projects,” Dunkley said.
“Lyrics and performing in videos is one thing, actually being around and having your name attached to something as horrible as this is not a good look.”
The Superior Court jury trial resumes next week.