Leighton Hopkinson, one of two men on trial for the first-degree murder of a man and the attempted murder of two other people, admits he carried out the shooting but testified he thought the vehicle he was shooting at was empty.
“I never seen anybody. I wouldn’t have done that if I had seen them. I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody sitting in that car for no reason,” Hopkinson said in a downtown courtroom Wednesday.
Hopkinson and Jordan Mendez are jointly charged with the murder of 27-year-old Keron Brathwaite, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, and the attempted murder of Brathwaite’s female friend who was in the front passenger seat and a male friend who was in the back.
Hopkinson described himself and Mendez as drug dealers who had separate businesses. He explained that he and Mendez often carried loaded firearms to protect themselves, their drugs and their money.
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“We are practically family,” he told the jury, saying they would frequently hang out and play video games. They also trusted one another.
It was shortly after 1 a.m. on June 11, 2021 when a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee drove up from behind Brathwaite’s Mercedes in a laneway outside his home in the area of Scarborough Golf Club Road and Lawrence Avenue East.
Brathwaite had spent the evening with his friends, playing basketball and hanging out. As he was getting ready to drive them home, the Jeep stopped next to the passenger side of the Mercedes and within seconds, bullets began to fly.
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Brathwaite had nowhere to hide. He was shot 19 times and was pronounced dead at the scene. His female friend in the passenger seat was struck in the shoulder but managed to duck down and avoid being hit again. The male friend in the back seat was not injured.
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Assistant Crown attorney Brittany Sherwood told the jury in her opening address that their theory is that Mendez and Hopkinson planned and executed the shooting that led to Brathwaite’s death and nearly killed his friends but they don’t know why.
“There is no apparent motive for this senseless killing,” Sherwood said.
Hopkinson told the jury that the mother of his child, with whom he was no longer in a relationship, told him that an ex-boyfriend had forced himself on her and that man drove a grey Mercedes.
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Hopkinson testified he snapped, wasn’t thinking and was filled with jealousy and rage when he came around the corner and saw the grey Mercedes. He said he drove up to the vehicle, rolled down the driver’s side window and began firing.
When one fully loaded handgun was empty, Hopkinson said picked up a second gun and began shooting until there were no more bullets.
Assistant Crown attorney Sean Hickey questioned Hopkinson about his claim that he couldn’t see anyone in the Mercedes.
“I’m going to suggest to you as you came around the bend with your lights on and the overhead light we saw in some of the video, that it would be impossible not to notice at very least the six-foot-something man seated in the back seat. You couldn’t miss that,” Hickey said.
“I didn’t see nobody in the vehicle. In the front or back,” said Hopkinson, who denied that Mendez fired any shots. “A lot of emotions were coming out of me at that point,” Hopkinson explained, referring to the mother of his child.
Hopkinson told the jury that when he learned that he had shot someone a few days later after seeing the news on social media, he felt like dying.
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Hickey suggested during cross-examination that Hopkinson would have known on the night of the shooting what happened.
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“It would have been of interest to you to find out if police were involved and were looking for your Jeep,” Hickey said. “You knew this wasn’t just a discharge. By your evidence, this was 25 shots, put into the side of a vehicle. You’ll agree with me that’s a whole lot different than random shots fired.”
Hopkinson replied: “No sir, this wasn’t on my mind.”
He testified his girlfriend had rented the Jeep a few days earlier and admitted they were driving with stolen plates, because that’s what drug dealers do to protect themselves from police in case they get pulled over.
The Crown argued that just 27 hours earlier, Hopkinson and Mendez carried out a shooting in the area of Eglinton Avenue and Scarlett Road. Police recovered 18 spent shell casings. No one was injured.
The jury has heard that the same Jeep was in close proximity at the time of the shooting on June 9 and the same two firearms used at this shooting were used a day and a half later to kill Brathwaite.
Hopkinson testified he was in the area with Mendez and a friend named Joey and heard the shots but had nothing to do with the shooting.
“I didn’t get out of the vehicle until the gunshots stopped,” Hopkinson said.
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Hopkinson testified that Joey, whom he hadn’t seen for a few years because Hopkinson was in jail, left the Jeep before the shots were fired to do “some kind of deal.” He testified Joey gave him the guns after the shooting that night.
“I’m going to suggest the two guns you acquired were not acquired due to the good fortune of Joey dropping them in the lap. I’m going to suggest you acquired them for the purpose of carrying out your trade,” Hickey suggested.
During cross-examination, Hopkinson said he didn’t know Joey’s last name or where he lived.
The trial continues.
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