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Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was killed outside his school as part of a conflict between two street gangs based in Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a jury was told on Wednesday at the opening of a murder trial at the Montreal courthouse.
Prosecutor Katerine Brabant said this is believed to be the motive behind why the 16-year-old boy was stabbed several times on Oct. 18, 2021, three minutes after he exited his school on Van Horne Ave.
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Andrei Donet, 21, is charged with second-degree murder in the trial presided over by Superior Court Justice Annie Émond.
Brabant said the Crown’s theory of the case is that Donet and an accomplice, who was a minor at the time, waited outside Jannai’s school for 15 minutes before the victim exited the front entrance with his friends. Jannai was confronted at a small park across the street from the school. She said Donet pepper-sprayed Jannai and the victim headed back toward his school.
The prosecutor also said Donet chased Jannai and blocked his path as he tried to find safety. The victim was pushed against a brick wall and was stabbed several times in the heart. He managed to mount the steps to his school, but he collapsed at the door. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.
“One question might come up: Why did the accused go after Jannai?” Brabant told the jury in her opening statement summarizing the evidence to come. “The police investigation allowed for the discovery that the crime committed by the accused was within the context of a conflict between two groups.
“The group associated with the victim was the 160s. We will talk about them.”
Brabant identified the gang tied to Jannai as one based in Côte-des-Neiges.
“The second group is associated with the 51s or the DGs, a group associated with Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, also in Montreal.”
The prosecutor went on to say that Donet has a tattoo with the letters DG on his hand.
“The accused did not appreciate the 160s, which was associated with the victim,” she said.
The tattoo will come up during the trial, Brabant said, because it is visible in videos that Donet posted on social media before and after Jannai was killed.
This report will be updated.
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