A Crown attorney prosecuting two men for the first-degree murder of Regent Park youth worker Thane Murray and the attempted murder of two of Murray’s childhood friends says a rap song and lyrics found on the phone of one of the accused after his arrest were “the truth” and no coincidence.
Noah Anderson and Junior Jamal Harvey are two of four men the Crown alleges drove into the Regent Park area of Toronto on the evening of Sept. 18, 2021, before parking their rental car and walking on foot towards the area of 330 Gerrard St., east of Parliament.
The four men can be seen on video surveillance chasing Murray and his friends as they were “running for their lives,” assistant Crown attorney Karen Simone told the jury in her closing address Tuesday.
The suspects, who were all wearing masks, can then be seen running off after the shooting. The issue the jury must decide is whether two of the four men seen on surveillance video are Anderson and Harvey.
Simone said three victims were targeted because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fifty-nine casings were found at the scene, and Murray was shot approximately 14 times, including once in the head.
“We say they were targeted by the accused, who had animus with Regent Park,” Simone said.
Simone said Anderson, Harvey, Jabreel Elmi and Rajahden Angus Campbell rented a hotel room, rented a getaway car, changed their clothes and changed the licence plate on the rental car before and after the shooting to avoid detection.
“We say 10 days later, they wrote a rap, revealing their animus and revealing the identity of the shooters,” Simone added.
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The Crown said it has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Anderson and Harvey are two of the four shooters when you consider all the evidence, including surveillance video of the beige Nissan Altima that it alleges the suspects arrived and left in, the lack of cellphone activity before, during and after the murder, and the contents of Anderson’s cellphone, including the lyrics and song.
Simone called the song “a powerful piece of circumstantial evidence showing animus of Regent Park,” which included the names of the accused.
Some of the lyrics include “we some RP killas” and “your block is getting peppered.” Simone said RP is short for Regent Park.
It is agreed upon that the song was recorded at a recording studio in Woodbridge 10 days after the shooting. Anderson and Harvey were both at the studio at the time.
On Nov. 30, 2021, an email with the attachment “Mr. Walk thru x RD x (Mr. Wallahix JMoney) – Peppered.mp3” was sent from the email address associated with Anderson to an email associated with Elmi.
Simone said it’s an agreed fact that Harvey’s nickname is JMoney. Mr. Walk thru refers to Anderson, RD is Campbell and Wallahi refers to Elmi.
“It’s no coincidence that the four people responsible for the brazen shooting of innocent people are credited in the title of this song,” Simone said.
Anderson’s lawyer Melina Macchia argued that little weight should be given to the song and lyrics in conjunction with the evidence in this case.
Macchia argued her client is innocent. It’s agreed upon that Anderson rented a room at the Chelsea hotel and a Nissan Altima that the Crown alleges was the getaway car. Macchia said it makes no sense that Anderson would have used his real name if he was trying to conceal his identity in this case.
She said Anderson had at least 15 sets of lyrics on his cellphone, including raps from other artists, which were saved before and after the homicide, many including violent themes.
“This is known as drill rap. Lyrics involving violent imagery and storytelling, including murder,” Macchia explained. “Another key feature: the concept of universal opposition. These violent boasts or taunts are geared towards rival neighbourhoods. The Crown asks you to rely on some of the lyrics to pepper the bridge of gaps in this case. In doing so, the Crown has ignored the fact that 90 per cent of the lyrics are untrue.”
Macchia said the Crown was criminalizing creative expression and pointed out that lyrics were being cherry-picked. “They’re asking you to rely on aspects of this song that point out animus on Regent Park,” Macchia said, pointing out that RP could refer to “real people” or other interpretations.
“There is nothing in the song that can assist you in identifying the shooters in this case. We are relying on a song to somehow explain an inexplicable crime,” Macchia concluded, calling the value of the lyrics insignificant.
Harvey’s lawyers will give closing arguments on Wednesday. Both Anderson and Harvey have pleaded not guilty.
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