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A man who was at a London bush party where a teenager was fatally shot says he decided to leave after seeing a masked man hitting a tree with a machete, a court heard.
Garrett McCabe, 21, took the stand Friday at the second-degree murder trial of Carlos Guerra Guerra, 23, and Emily Altmann, 22, both charged with second-degree murder in the July 31, 2021, death of Josue Silva, 18.
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McCabe, 18 at the time, had driven to a bush party in southwest London with friends and was hanging around a bonfire when he noticed two masked men, one of them armed with a machete, standing nearby.
“I saw (him) just banging the machete on a tree,” McCabe testified by teleconference from New York, where he’s attending college.
The sight of the armed man was “very concerning” and McCabe texted his then-girlfriend, saying it was time to leave the party, he told the court.
“We left as soon as I got in touch with her,” he said.
Under cross-examination, Altmann’s defence lawyer, Nathan Gorham, questioned why McCabe hung around the fire talking to a friend for another 10 to 15 minutes if he was so concerned about his safety after seeing the machete-wielding man.
“That’s a pretty menacing thing because it kind of looks like the guy is unhinged,” Gorman said of the armed man.
McCabe said he was finishing his conversation with a friend and waiting to find his girlfriend.
Earlier Friday, the court heard from Keira Jeymekle, 20, who testified she saw two masked men get out of a white vehicle and head toward the bush party, where she’d previously heard women arguing.
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“The one man kind of moved his sweater or shirt and there was a knife,” she said of the man who got out of the passenger seat. “It was in the waistband of his pants.”
The 14-person jury has heard Altmann and her friends were involved in an argument with other people at the party after a drink was thrown at them and unwanted photos were snapped. Altmann and her group left the party and she made calls and sent texts from her vehicle before returning to the party with people she had reached out to for backup.
Kaiah Edmonds, 21, previously testified Guerra Guerra was driving her, Dylan Schaap and another woman to the party when he received a call from Altmann saying she was going to get “jumped.”
Guerra Guerra had a gun and there was a large knife or sword tucked beside the centre console, Edmonds said.
Once at the bush bash, Guerra Guerra and Altmann approached a group of people who had emerged from the field and there was an argument and scuffle before a single gunshot rang out, Edmonds said.
The cross examination of McCabe continues Friday afternoon.
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