Fort Saskatchewan father says he was 'teleported' during fatal attack on infant son
CBC
A Fort Saskatchewan father accused of murdering his one-year-old son sobbed on the witness stand Tuesday afternoon as he listened to the panicked 911 phone call he made in November 2019.
Damien Starrett, 33, is charged with the second-degree murder of his infant son Ares. The defence hopes to prove Starrett is not criminally responsible for killing the baby.
Starrett said Nov. 23, 2019, started off as a typical Saturday.
"I was feeling very ill," he testified. "I felt like I had a severe flu."
He also said his back was very sore and that he took six Percocet tablets, an opioid-based prescription painkiller, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Starrett said the last thing he remembers is lying on the living room couch, holding his phone above his head while his five-year-old daughter and son Ares were in the room with him watching television.
"All I can remember is going from light to darkness and I'm looking at the stairwell and it's like I got teleported in time," Starrett told Court of Queen's Bench Justice John Henderson. "It's dark. I stood up. I'm confused about what's going on."
Starrett testified tearfully that he noticed his daughter on the couch, curled up in a ball and looking scared. He said he asked her what happened and his daughter replied, "You hit him, Daddy."
That's when he noticed the baby on the floor.
"I'm looking at Ares and there's a dent in his head," Starrett said. "His nose is bleeding … and I didn't know if it was real or a dream."
Starrett said he was shocked and confused.
"I didn't know what to do," he said. "I just grabbed my phone and started calling."
He said he called his wife, who was working at a Fort Saskatchewan restaurant. Then he called 911.
Defence lawyer Rory Ziv played the eight-minute 911 recording for the court.
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