Victims were 'ambushed' in fatal drive-by shooting, jurors hear

Two men killed in a drive-by shooting were "ambushed" by the killers who, according to the prosecution, "laid in wait" for their victims to leave a northeast lounge, jurors heard Monday as a murder trial got underway. 

Prabhjyot Bhatti, 25, and Jaskaran Sidhu, 24, are charged with first-degree murder in the 2019 deaths of Jasdeep Singh, 25, and Japneet Malhi, 22.

The trial began Monday with an opening statement from Aurelie Beland, who is prosecuting the case alongside Brian Holtby. 

Beland told jurors that just after 2 a.m. on April 3, 2019, Singh and Malhi paid their bills and left the Mazaj Lounge and Restaurant. They got into the front seats of a Mercedes SUV with a female friend in the back seat.

'A hail of bullets'

Bhatti and Sidhu are accused of driving by as soon as the car doors closed and "unleashing a hail of bullets with a sawed-off, semi-automatic rifle," according to Beland. 

The friend in the backseat called 911. 

Police and paramedics attempted to save the lives of the two victims, but Malhi died at the scene and Singh died in hospital just over an hour later. 

The two men were best friends.

According to the prosecutor, Singh and Malhi were involved in the city's drug trade but were vulnerable, young victims who "never had the chance to turn their lives around."

The key issue in the Crown's case, according to Beland, is the identity of the occupants of the suspect vehicle.

Defence lawyers Andrea Urquhart and Shamsher Kothari represent the accused.