Thrown water bottle, $30 dispute preceded two shooting deaths outside club: court
The shooting deaths of two young men as they left a crowded Port Lands nightclub may have started over a dispute about $30, and a thrown water bottle, Ontario Superior Court heard recently over closing arguments in the murder trial.
Surveillance video played in court shows the moments before the October 2017 murder, when one of the accused, Tanade Mohamed, tosses a water bottle at one of the victims, 25-year-old club promoter Tyler McLean. Court heard Mohamed was angry over a $30 parking fee charged by the valet for the Rebel Nightclub.
He then walks over to McLean, where the video shows pushing between them and a small crowd forms — but eventually everyone walks away.
Later, surveillance video shows muzzle flashes coming from the window of a rented black Dodge Durango before it flees the parking lot.
Authorities said that’s when Tanade Mohamed shot McLean through the chest, and 26-year-old Zemarai Khan Mohamed, who also went by Amir Jamal, in the head.
A dashcam video shows a police car in pursuit of the Durango along the Don Valley Parkway — but the chase became too dangerous and officers had to back off.
Police tracked Mohamed and his co-accused Abdisiraq Ali to their homes using banking information, documents say.
Video played of a combative police interview with Mohamed was allowed in as evidence by Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden.
Sitting in a room at 51 Division, Mohamed at first denies even having been at the club that night.
“You say I’m not helping you,” Mohamed can be heard saying on the recording. “You can help me by explaining to me why I’m here.”
The officer responds, while shuffling papers, “Because you’re charged with second-degree murder for two individuals.”
“There’s no way. You can help me understand that I’m here for a double homicide,” Mohamed says. “I personally know that I didn’t commit a crime,” he says.
Since then, he has admitted through his lawyer that he caused the two deaths by discharging a firearm, according to an agreed statement of facts.
But both accuseds say that doesn’t amount to second degree murder.
As for that water bottle, it was recovered by police and placed as an exhibit.
McLean’s friends have created an annual event called “The Tyler Effect” to honour his memory and to fight gun violence.
“Born out of the heartbreaking loss of an incredibly gifted, creative and talented young man, the Tyler Effect aims to continue to spread the same joy and love that this individual brought to so many people in his lifetime,” The Tyler Effect’s website says.
The trial was originally before a jury but was suspended last year because of COVID-19. It is now proceeding before Justice Bawden alone.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.