Jury in murder trial hears Pat Stay's last words
Adam Drake, 34, charged with 2nd-degree murder in battle rapper's stabbing death
Pat Stay's last words were "Call the cops."
The Dartmouth battle rapper had been stabbed at a bar in downtown Halifax early on the morning of Sept. 4, 2022. Security video from the bar shows him staggering away from the incident with a large bloodstain forming on his chest. After being stabbed, he is punched to the ground before getting up and stumbling out of range of the camera.
Stay makes it to the front of the bar, the Yacht Club Social on Lower Water Street. He's shown weaving through the crowd, out onto the street.
Const. Brad Benjamin is one of two plainclothes police officers who happened to be in the bar that night investigating complaints of liquor violations. Benjamin spotted Stay and followed him outside. He approached the musician just as Stay collapsed to the pavement. Benjamin flashed his badge to identify himself, and that's when Stay uttered his final words.
These details are contained in an agreed statement of facts that were read into the record Tuesday at the jury trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court of Adam Drake, the man accused of killing Stay.
Drake, 34, is charged with second-degree murder.
Justice Scott Norton explained to the jury in a Dartmouth courtroom today that Drake's defence team is conceding the details contained in the statement, sparing the Crown the necessity of having to prove these elements.
The trial is in its third week, but it is on a truncated schedule.
The jury heard this week from two police witnesses who testified about evidence they collected. There are judicial meetings the rest of the week, so the trial will not resume until Monday.
The trial is expected to run until mid-June.
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