The two girls on trial for the alleged murder of Kenneth Lee met up with a group of 25 to 30 teens at Yorkdale mall earlier that night “to drink and to smoke” weed, a teen who was with them testified Tuesday.
“After we got drunk we were planning to go to a party,” the girl, 17, said. Some of the group was heading downtown instead, she said. The teens planned to meet at the mall using a group chat they were all in, she said.
The girl — who can not be identified and who has not been charged with any criminal offence in this case — took the stand as a surprise witness for the defence.
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She was asked by lawyers for the two girls to describe how intoxicated the teens were.
The girl testified she brought a 1.14 litre bottle of Bacardi rum with her to the mall. The teens — including the two girls on trial — took turns drinking directly from the bottle, she said, and were chasing it with pop or juice. There was also a second, smaller, bottle of Crown Royal being drunk, she said, but she didn’t remember who brought that bottle.
The girl couldn’t say how much each girl had to drink, but described herself as being “drunk.” She said one of the girls on trial — a girl who the Crown alleges fatally wounded Lee — was drinking “a lot” and was “on the same level” as her.
The group, including both girls on trial, then went outside, and were smoking joints, the teen said. She couldn’t remember how much marijuana was smoked that night.
After that, the teen and others split off to take an Uber to a party in Markham that never materialized, she said. She remembered the two girls on trial and others discussing going to an LCBO to get more alcohol.
The next time she saw the girls was downtown at SickKids Hospital after learning their mutual friend had been injured. She said she wasn’t allowed inside and watched, through a window, as her friends were with police officers.
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“I ended up finding out they were being charged for murder,” she said.
The girl told the court she never saw her friend who the Crown alleges stabbed Lee with a weapon.
Eight girls in total were charged with second-degree murder after Lee was swarmed and beaten in a parkette near Union Station.
The two girls on trial this month have both pleaded not guilty to the charge. Two other girls face a jury trial in May. The four remaining girls previously pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced to probation.
The trial continues Wednesday.
Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based crime reporter for the
Star. Follow her on Twitter: .
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