She testified on Tuesday that Merasty was angry because the victim's friend invited rival gang members over to an apartment earlier that day.
Warning: Story contains graphic details from trial testimony
An 18-year-old woman says she was 15 years old when she saw Rene Jobe Merasty choke her friend Hailey Belanger-Weeseekase in the bathroom of a Confederation Park apartment suite.
The teen cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act because of her age when Belanger-Weeseekase, 19, was killed around 3 p.m. on July 11, 2020. Her body was found in a red Chrysler Neon in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 3730 Diefenbaker Drive.
She testified on Tuesday that she, Merasty and Belanger-Weeseekase were members of the Last Kings street gang. She said Merasty, who was higher up in the gang, was angry because Belanger-Weeseekase’s friend had invited rival gang members over to an apartment on Avenue O earlier that day.
A fight broke out between Merasty and two Terror Squad members, who sprayed bear mace under the apartment door after they were kicked out, she said.
While they were driving to the Diefenbaker Drive apartment, the teen said she gave Belanger-Weeseekase a shot of vodka because her friend was scared, intoxicated and clutching her arm in the back seat.
Merasty got mad and said “That’s going to be an extra minute of torture,” she told court.
She said she expected Belanger-Weeseekase to get a disciplinary beating, but when she walked into the bathroom her friend was lying on the floor. Her nose was bleeding, her eyes were closed, she was pale and wasn’t moving, she testified.
Merasty was wearing rubber gloves, choking her with one hand and putting the handle of a toilet plunger down her throat to stop her from breathing, the girl told court.
She said she believed Belanger-Weeseekase was already dead when she put her hand on the victim’s neck. Merasty then put his foot on her hand and pressed down.
“He asked me if I wanted to get in on this, and I initially said no. I don’t know why I did it,” she said.
When Crown prosecutor Carla Dewar asked the teen what happens when someone higher up in a gang tells you to do something, she said the expectation is to follow orders.
During cross-examination, the teen told defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle that she was promoted in the gang since Belanger-Weeseekase was killed.
She identified herself and Merasty on surveillance video, dragging Belanger-Weeseekase’s blanket-wrapped body from the ground floor apartment to the red car in the parking lot. They tried to drive away but neither of them could drive a stick shift, she said.
She agreed with Pfefferle that Merasty told a neighbour to call police because their friend had overdosed.
Court heard a plunger, a bloody $20 bill found in the bathtub and swabs from dried blood stains on the walls and toilet seat contained Belanger-Weeseekase’s DNA.
The teen said the bath was running, she smelled bleach and saw a bleach bottle when she was in the bathroom.
She testified Merasty is the only person she saw hurt Belanger-Weeseekase. She said she met him for the first time that day, but knew the victim, who she called “Dee Dee,” for about a year.
The girl said Belanger-Weeseekase was “extremely intoxicated,” but she did not see her use any drugs the day she was killed. During cross-examination, she said she saw Merasty “smoke crack.”
She agreed with Pfefferle that she did not see the victim do anything to upset Merasty, and agreed he never said why he was hurting her.
In her July 2020 police statement, the teen said “There were a whole lot of f—ing people that are involved in it, but I’m not going to give their names,” because she didn’t want to snitch.
“You don’t get promoted for snitching, do you?” Pffeferle asked.
“Unless, you’re protecting the very people you’re supposed to protect in a gang, right? You get promoted for snitching on the wrong person — you don’t get promoted for snitching on the right person, correct?”
The teen denied that she was protecting anyone or that she got promoted in the gang for giving Merasty’s name to police.
Post a Comment