Saint John murder trial hears from eyewitness, says she saw accused take fatal shot
CBC
A Saint John jury has heard about a drug-filled night that led to a fatal shooting in the summer of 2023.
At the end of that night, Alexander Bishop, 38, had been shot and pronounced dead at the scene.
Zakkary Hyulett Reed, 31, was later charged with first-degree murder in Bishop's death. The jury trial began on Monday.
Shelly Smith was the first witness called to testify. She said there were a number of people in her apartment at 170 King St. East that night, including Bishop, who had been staying at her place for about a month, and Reed, who had been there for about a week.
Smith said she drank beer and did half a hit of acid that night. She said the others were doing drugs, including fentanyl and meth.
Smith said she was sitting in the living room when she heard a loud bang from another part of the apartment. She said she thought it was a heavy object falling on the floor.
Not long after, she said Hanna Graham ran into the room from the hallway and told her to call 911.
Graham, 24, told the court that she had been friends with Reed since about 2017 and had dated him until about a year before the incident. She said they remained really close and called him her "best friend."
Graham said she went to the King Street East apartment on the night of Aug. 19, 2023, to spend time with Reed.
She said she ended up taking a six-month-old pitbull mix, named Mace, for a walk. She went all the way to the north end to visit a friend who didn't answer the door, she said, and then returned to the King Street East apartment with Mace.
Graham said she was on acid that night and doesn't remember much.
She said she and Bishop were together in a back room of the apartment when the door flew open and Reed entered. She said he immediately shot Bishop once in the chest without saying anything.
Graham said she was "about two feet away" from Bishop at the time.
"He got shot … in the chest … once," she said, with prompting from Crown prosecutor Elaina Campbell.
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