Pat Stay stabbed after verbal altercation and a shove, witness tells murder trial

A woman who stood next to Pat Stay moments before he was fatally stabbed at a Halifax nightclub has testified that the battle rapper and another man had a verbal confrontation that turned physical.

The second-degree murder trial of Adam Drake heard Monday from Brinn McKenzie, who was working as a server at the Yacht Social Club when the attack occurred early on the morning of Sept. 4, 2022.

McKenzie, 25, said she was providing bottle service to patrons seated in the VIP section of the bar on Lower Water Street. She told the Nova Scotia Supreme Court she didn't recognize anyone in that section that night and only learned Stay's name later.

She described one of the people seated in the VIP section as a white man in a white shirt. Other witnesses have identified that man as Drake.

McKenzie said when Stay arrived, the Dartmouth man greeted almost everyone at the table with handshakes, hugs or fist bumps. She said the one exception was the man in the white shirt.

She testified the two men exchanged words and Stay shoved the other man. McKenzie did not see a weapon and said she did not witness the stabbing.

McKenzie said she only became aware of what had happened when Stay turned and she saw blood. Stay slipped in the blood as he ran out of the bar, she told the jury trial.

Witness unable to identify people in grainy video

The Crown had a video expert enhance the security video from the bar that the jury has already seen.

The enhancement zooms in on Stay, but the image is so grainy, it's difficult to make anything out.

McKenzie was able to recognize herself in the enhanced video but she said she couldn't be certain of any other identities.

Stay, 36, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the stabbing. Drake, now 34, was arrested a few days later.

His trial is expected to run until mid-June.