 Jordan Manners, 15, was shot dead at his high school in May 2007. (QMI AGENCY FILE)
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TORONTO -- A friend accused of murdering Jordan Manners watched the 15-year-old boy gasping his last breaths while phoning the victim’s family with the tragic news, a jury heard Thursday.
Gym teacher Genadi Meilikhan described the heart-wrenching scene he and the accused gunman witnessed, both of them standing only a step away from the wounded Manners on May 23, 2007.
Two school staffers desperately tried to revive Manners, who was bleeding internally, from a gunshot that pierced his heart and lungs, court heard.
There was no blood so no one realized what was wrong with Manners until they stripped off his upper clothing, court heard.
Meilikhan was testifying at the trial of the accused J.W. and C.D., two 20-year-old men charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Manners at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate.
The prosecution is alleging J.W. is the gunman while C.D. rifled through the wounded teen’s pockets and then handed items to J.W. in a planned, deliberate killing.
The two men, known only as J.W. and C.D. because they were 17 at the time, have pleaded not guilty.
The fatal shooting is the first in a Toronto high school, but there have been several homicides in schools across Canada.
“He was gasping for air, out of air, breathing very, very heavily and at that point, we didn’t know what happened,” said the teacher, who has spent the last 10 years teaching at Jefferys.
“J.W. was in a very stressful condition. He was constantly trying to call Jordan’s family on his cellphone.”
Only 10 minutes before this horrific scene, Meilikhan recalled seeing J.W. walking alongside and joking with Manners and another teen, S.W.
“Terminator,” J.W. called out to the teacher. Meilikhan said only J.W. called him by this nickname. The powerfully built instructor has an accent similar to former action star Arnold Schwarzenegger who played The Terminator.
The teacher, who never taught J.W., told court he knew the tall, slender youth from his frequent time playing basketball in the school gym. They enjoyed a “good, friendly relationship” in the last six or seven months before the shooting.
Jordan’s mother, Loreen Small, left the courtroom in tears several times, unable to listen to the details of her child’s last moments.
“It’s pain, pain and suffering. It’s like burying my child all over again,” Small said later outside court.
The trial continues today.
sam.pazzano@sunmedia.ca
