 Jordan Manners, 15, was shot dead at his high school in May 2007. (QMI AGENCY FILE)
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The tragic shooting of a teenaged Jordan Manners at a Toronto high school was a planned and deliberate killing, a Crown attorney told a jury.
“The shocking nature of this case is that it takes place . . in the middle of the afternoon,” said Aaron Del Rizzo said Wednesday, as he delivered his opening statement in the trial of two men charged with first-degree murder.
“Shortly after 2 p.m. on the last day of his short life, Jordan Manners sustained a gunshot wound in the middle of his chest. He was found at the base of a set of stairs in the middle of the school in the Keele and Finch area of the city,” said Del Rizzo.
The two accused men have pleaded not guilty in the May 23, 2007, shooting of the 15-year-old. The accused murderers, now 20, were 17 at the time and cannot be identified in the media.
Del Rizzo said the two accused escorted Manners, who was carrying a pop can, down a flight of stairs: One in front of Manners and the other behind him.
“At some point, (one assailant) drags Jordan down the stairs and puts something to his chest. He collapses, and never gets up again,” said Del Rizzo. He told the jury that Manners’ pockets were rifled through and no words were exchanged between the two alleged killers.
It is the only fatal shooting of a student in a high school in session in Canada.
As Jordan lay below the stairs, having trouble breathing and speaking, students and staff came to his aid. The .25-calibre bullet that killed him — penetrating his heart and a lung — remained inside his body.
As a result, there was no blood visible on Jordan or the floor surrounding him. Initially, people didn’t know that Jordan had been shot, said Del Rizzo.
Once Jordan’s white jacket — which had a dark discoloration surrounding a hole right next to a melted zipper — was removed, a small entry wound was observed.
The prosecutor said the six-man, six-woman jury will travel to the school to see the shooting scene for themselves.
