Jordan Manners Shooting Trial

Toronto--C.W. Jefferies high school was visited yesterday by the jury, judge and the two men accused in the Jordan Manners shooting trial.

Manners, 15, was shot and killed in his school on May 23rd  2007.

On Friday, the jury was allowed to visit the scene of the crime and ask questions relating to the crime before returning to the courthouse.

The two accused, who cannot be identified because they were 17 years old at the time the crime was committed, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.

The identities of youth are protected under the Young Offender Act.

Police blocked entrances to C.W. Jefferys Collegiate yesterday while jurors, the judge and the accused men were at the school.

Jordan Manners was the first student to ever be shot and killed in a Toronto school.

During testimony on Thursday, it was revealed that the youth accused of shooting  Manners was one of the first to arrive to at the murder scene on May 23, 2007.  

Richard Malcolm, a C.W. Jefferys Collegiate hall monitor testified that one of the accused youth, who can only be identified as J.W., “looked shocked. He looked concerned,”.

“He asked what happened and I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Malcolm testified.

Malcolm said he then ordered J.W., who he knew was a close friend of Manners, to use his cell phone to reach the victim’s family.

“He said he could only get a hold of his older brother and I said, ‘Stand on the stairs until you can get a hold of somebody.’”

J.W. and another man identified as C.D, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in Manners’ death.

It is the Crown’s contention that J.W. dragged the 15-year-old victim down the stairs and shot him in the chest. The Crown also alleges that after the shooting, C.D. rifled through Manners’

pockets to removed some items before they fled.

Under cross-examination, Malcolm agreed with defence lawyer Lydia Riva that Manners and the two accused were close friends.

Malcolm further testified that on the day of the shooting he saw Manners and J.W. hanging out in the gym.

“You didn’t notice any anger between them?” Riva asked.

“No,” Malcolm replied “it was just a normal day.”

The trial resumes Tuesday.