Donny Thompson recalls hearing the screams of a man who was stabbed during an altercation just down the street from his house, and the assailant yelling as he ran away.
Testifying on Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Thompson said it was a sunny Saturday afternoon when he observed a “black guy” with a knife stab a man, later identified as 24-year-old David Merasty.
Both men fell and the black man tried to stab the other man again before taking off down an alley toward Avenue D, Thompson said.
He was living in the 300 block of Avenue E South when some passing friends alerted him to the street fight, Thompson testified at the second-degree murder trial of Lajray Orlando Redman Gordon.
Gordon, 30, is accused of stabbing and killing Merasty on June 18, 2016.
Court exhibit photos from the second-degree murder trial of Lajray Orlando Redman Gordon show where David Merasty was stabbed in the 300 block of Avenue E South, off 20th Street.
The victim was trying to shield himself from being stabbed, Thompson testified. He said it felt like the violence unfolded over 30 seconds.
“I don’t recall seeing him fighting back,” Thompson’s wife, Laila, told the jury.
Under cross-examination, Thompson said he did not see what happened before the stabbing.
Earlier in the trial, Coquilynn Frenchman said a fight broke out between Merasty and Gordon after she made a rude comment to Merasty when they crossed paths near Avenue E South and 20th Street. She testified that her friend, Gordon, stepped in to defend her as Merasty followed them into a yard and started making racist comments toward Gordon.
She said she turned away and did not see what happened between the men, but could hear them scuffling. When she turned back around, Gordon was gone and Merasty looked hurt, Frenchman testified.
Court exhibit photos from the second-degree murder trial of Lajray Orlando Redman Gordon show where David Merasty was stabbed in the 300 block of Avenue E South, off 20th Street.
Laila tearfully told the jury that she knew the man had been stabbed when his white tank top turned red with blood. She said she watched the black man make stabbing motions and briefly saw a knife before he ran down an alley.
Surveillance video from a nearby business was played in court, showing a distant figure running down an alley between Avenue E and Avenue D South that day. Saskatoon police Sgt. Shannon Murray said it’s difficult to identify the person.
She reviewed surveillance video from the Friendship Inn showing the accused leaving the building with two women around 1 p.m. on the day of the stabbing. Frenchman said she and Gordon had just left the Friendship Inn when they encountered Merasty on the street.