Trial opens for 2 men accused in killing of Tylor McInnis
There were quiet sobs in a Halifax courtroom Friday as the family of murder victim Tylor McInnis watched security video of him walking through the lobby of an unidentified building.
McInnis, 26, was killed in August 2016. His body was found in the trunk of a stolen car that had been abandoned in a cemetery in North Preston, N.S.
Two men are on trial in connection with McInnis's death. Shawntez Neco Downey is charged with first-degree murder and robbery. His younger brother, Daniel Romeo Downey, is charged with robbery and being an accessory.
The Crown showed the security video of McInnis to his girlfriend, Tyelisha Voeltz. The couple lived together in the Fairview neighbourhood of Halifax with four children.
Voeltz told the seven man, seven woman jury that McInnis left their home to drive a playmate of one of their daughters back to her mother's place on the night of Aug. 22, 2016. Voeltz expected McInnis to return home right away. When he didn't arrive by 10 p.m., she called McInnis.
Voeltz told the court something about their conversation "didn't seem right." She said McInnis told her he was going to sell a gold chain, bracelet and ring and he was sending his younger brother over to retrieve those items. Voeltz said she thought this was odd activity for late in the evening.
When she tried calling him back, the call went straight to voicemail and Voeltz assumed his phone had died. Voeltz said she then called a second cellphone McInnis always carried with him and he answered, telling her he'd be home soon.
Minutes later, Voeltz said McInnis's younger brother showed up at the apartment to collect the gold items McInnis had said he wanted to sell.
"I knew something was wrong," Voeltz said, adding she couldn't sleep that night.
Voeltz told the court she never saw McInnis alive again. The next morning, she said, she was contacted by police.
The first three witnesses in the trial were police officers, including the duo who found the stolen car, a black Honda Civic, in the graveyard. They described cautiously opening the trunk where they discovered the body. They then called for backup and stood guard until the medical examiner and additional officers arrived.
Twenty days have been set aside for the trial.
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