The trial of a man accused of fatally shooting an innocent Winnipeg teen who was caught in the crossfire of a gang feud over control of the drug trade got underway on Monday.
Jeffrey Cansanay is accused of firing the gunshot that killed Phil Haiart, 17, on the night of Oct. 10, 2005.
Haiart and another man were just about to cross Maryland Street near Sargent Avenue when they were hit by errant gunfire from across a parking lot.
'Mr. Cansanay targeted two other people, shot at them, but missed.'—Crown attorney Gerry Bowering
Haiart — the son of a Winnipeg doctor — died hours after being rushed to hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his stomach. He was just two weeks away from his 18th birthday.
The other shooting victim, then 25, was struck in the forearm, but survived.
Jeff Cansanay, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Phil Haiart. (Winnipeg police)
Police and justice officials said shots were fired at two members of a street gang outside 606 McGee St. in Winnipeg's West End. Rivals of that gang were purportedly using the home to sell crack cocaine, causing tension and outbreaks of violence in the immediate area.
Cansanay, 24, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, along with three counts of attempted murder in connection to the shooting.
If convicted, he faces a life sentence without being eligible for parole for a minimum of 10 years. As a permanent resident who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1994, Cansanay also faces deportation.
A jury of five women and seven men will decide his fate as the trial continues over the next eight weeks.
In his opening statement to jurors on Monday, prosecutor Gerry Bowering outlined the Crown's case.
"Evidence will show Mr. Cansanay targeted two other people, shot at them, but missed," Bowering said.
Dispute over drugs blows up
Bowering told court the backdrop to the shooting was a violent turf war between the Mad Cowz and African Mafia street gangs.
Just months before Haiart was killed, some members of the Mad Cowz split off to form the African Mafia because of an internal leadership dispute.
Anger erupted when a member of the Mad Cowz left and began buying crack from an African Mafia source and sold the drugs to customers out of the McGee Street home where Cansanay lived, Bowering said.
In the 24 hours prior to Haiart's killing, there was a gun battle outside the home between the two gangs where no one was injured, Bowering said.
A Mad Cowz member also tried unsuccessfully to firebomb the residence.
Neither incident was reported to police, but instead were uncovered in the course of investigating Haiart's death, he said.
The Crown alleges that minutes prior to Haiart's killing, two Mad Cowz members were watching activities at the home from a parking lot just across the street when a teen and Cansanay emerged from inside.
Bowering told jurors Cansanay was carrying a .22-calibre rifle and fired at the two rivals, but missed, hitting Haiart. The injured youth managed to run about a block before collapsing in front of a Sargent Avenue store.
The weapon has never been recovered, Bowering told court.
Gang members to testify
The Crown's case will include testimony from members of the Mad Cowz gang, Bowering said.
"They may be reluctant to be called as witnesses … if that happens, the trial will not go as smoothly as usual," he said.
One of those witnesses will be high-ranking Mad Cowz member Corey Amyotte.
"He can tell you who shot Phillipe Haiart," Bowering told jurors.
Defence lawyers Greg Brodsky and Ryan Amy declined to make an opening statement.- A young Winnipeg man shot dead as he walked in the city’s West End was the innocent victim of a violent gang turf war, a jury was told Monday.
Phil Haiart was just two weeks shy of his 18th birthday when, on Oct. 10, 2005, he suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Jeffrey Cansanay, the man prosecutors say shot him, is on trial charged with second-degree murder.
Prosecutors allege Cansanay and a co-accused were associates of the African Mafia, a splinter gang of the Mad Cowz, with whom they were engaged in a bitter turf war.
Cansanay was living at a McGee Street crack house when, at the behest of his co-accused, he fired a rifle at two rival gangsters on the street.
“Cansanay targeted two other people, shot at them and missed,” Crown attorney Gerry Bowering said.
Instead, Haiart was shot in the abdomen and another man, 25-year-old Abbas Jalloh, was shot in the arm.
The two men ran for about a block before Haiart collapsed near the intersection of Sherbrook Street and Sargent Avenue. Haiart died in hospital five hours later.
Days before the shooting the two gang factions exchanged gunfire on the street. No one was injured. Hours before the fatal shooting, the crack house was unsuccessfully firebombed.
Bowering warned jurors not to expect any flashy forensic evidence commonly associated with glossy television dramas. He said there is no DNA evidence or fingerprints linking Cansanay to the crime and the murder weapon has never been found.
Witnesses set to testify at the trial will include several gang members, Bowering said.
“They may not be too happy to be called as witnesses,” he said. “They were then, and are now, members of a street gang ... they are violent drug dealers. They may be reluctant to tell you everything they know.”
The trial is set for eight weeks.
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