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The jury at Carlos Guerra Guerra’s second-degree murder trial has begun its deliberations.
Superior Court Justice Patricia Moore completed her final instructions late Thursday afternoon at the 10-week trial that began in mid-October.
Only 12 jurors will be making the decision. Before beginning their discussions, two of the 14 jurors were selected at random to step aside. Extra jurors were chosen to listen to the case because the trial was so lengthy and there was a risk someone might not be able to serve for the entire trial by some unforeseen circumstance.
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Guerra Guerra, 23, has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death of Josue Silva, 18, a Western University student gunned down at a teenagers’ bush party in southwest London on July 31, 2021.
He has also pleaded not guilty to assault with a weapon. He was charged as a party to the offence, while his friend Dylan Schaap, 23, has admitted in another court proceeding that he hit Silva’s best friend, Logan Marshall, 22, in the head with the blunt end of a machete, causing a concussion.
Schaap pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault with a weapon and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Dec. 17.
The jury heard that Guerra Guerra and Schaap showed up at the party at the request of Emily Altmann, 22, who had sent messages to Guerra Guerra that she had been harassed by a group of young men and was going to be “jumped.”
She had been in a verbal altercation with people at the party over unwanted photos that were snapped and a spilled or thrown drink in the direction of Altmann and her friend group.
Guerra Guerra and Schaap showed up at the party wearing masks and dark clothing. Schaap was armed with a machete and Guerra Guerra had a loaded handgun in his cross-bag. The jury heard they went into the party with Altmann and others to hunt down the harassers and confront them.
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When they were unable to find their targets, they decided to leave but then encountered Marshall, Silva and some of their friends as they emerged from their hiding places and were heading out of the wooded area.
Guerra Guerra has admitted he fatally shot Silva, but testified that he was acting in self-defence. Guerra Guerra claimed Silva was initially unarmed when they began to fight but was able to get a machete and was holding it over him when he fired the gun to scare him.
The Crown argued that Guerra Guerra, a wannabe rapper, was carrying around a loaded handgun and wanted to use it to cement his bad-boy reputation. Schaap attacked Marshall first, while Guerra Guerra attacked Silva and was straddled over the university student who was on his back on the ground when Guerra Guerra pulled out the gun and fired it into Silva’s abdomen.
Altmann was a co-defendant at the murder trial until Nov. 25, when the Crown made the decision to stay all her charges and withdraw obstruction charges that were to be tried at a later date. The jury didn’t know Altmann was excused and was only told not to speculate why she was no longer attending the trial.
Moore told the jury it could consider guilty verdicts to second-degree murder or manslaughter or could acquit him in Silva’s death. A conviction for the assault charge would be made out if the jury agrees that Guerra Guerra and Schaap were working in concert.
The jury has been sequestered and deliberations have begun.
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