 Jacques "Junior" Amakon. (File photo)
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OSHAWA - The 18-year-old accused of stabbing Michael "Biggie" MacDonald to death had apparently been living in fear of the much bigger boy since the two fought earlier this year.
Although he's two years older than the 16-year-old, Jacques "Junior" Amakon is about half the size of the 280-pound football player.
And when they scrapped a month or so ago in the halls of Monsignor Paul Dwyer, students at the Catholic school say Amakon took quite a beating.
They say a teacher also suffered a broken arm while trying to stop that fight.
MacDonald was stabbed to death Tuesday at a bus stop in front of the school -- at Stevenson and Rossland Rds.
Amakon is charged with second-degree murder and a weapons offence.
Adam Memarinas, 15, who attends nearby R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate Institute but went to Monsignor Paul Dwyer last year and played on the football team with MacDonald, said he received a text message saying "Mike was in a fight," so he left class and raced over.
"As soon as I got to the school, I saw (MacDonald) getting stabbed and he just died right in front of my eyes," Demarinas said.
A source who knows Amakon's family says his mom was urged by Durham cops to press charges against MacDonald.
She didn't push the issue because her son asked her not to for fear of reprisal against him or his siblings, who were also students at the school, the source said.
Now, as her son sits in a jail cell and MacDonald's parents are planning their child's funeral, she can't help but wonder what might have been had she ignored her son's wishes, the source said.
It turns out both teens were no longer students at Monsignor Paul Dwyer.
A spokesman for the Catholic school board in Durham said MacDonald was expelled and Amakon suspended after the first fight.
Maria Vasanelli, superintendent of safe schools for the board, said the expulsion meant MacDonald would never be allowed to return to that school, but Amakon may have been able to work his way back in time because he was only suspended.
Regardless, MacDonald was obviously still much loved at the school.
Hundreds of his former schoolmates gathered on the football field Tuesday for an inpromtu memorial, many of them wearing T-shirts with the slain teen's photo on the front.
A mound of flowers is growing around the goal posts in honour of the teen, who they called Biggie or Big Mac.
MacDonald's parents stopped by the field and were overwhelmed by the response from their son's friends.
"I've never seen anything like this before," said Rhonda Corby, MacDonald's grief-stricken mom. "It's absolutely unbelievable. But it doesn't bring my son back."
"I miss him, I miss him," MacDonald's dad said. "I've got no more tears left."
They said their son was "a good boy" and a great football player.
Amakon's family say the accused is "a good kid."
"He's an ambitious student with grades in the 80s and he wants to be a lawyer," a source who knows Amakon's mom said.
A handful of family members were in court as the accused teen made a brief appearance Tuesday, wearing a white prison jumpsuit with his hands cuffed and his feet shackled.
He's to appear again Thursday.
Police say they're still looking for the knife used to kill MacDonald.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Haight or Det. Jennings at 1-888-579-1520, ext. 5247, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca
