A 23-year-old Toronto man pleaded not guilty on Monday to the double homicide of Brantford couple Larry Reynolds and Dorothy Lynn VanEvery.
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Malik Mbuyi also pleaded not guilty in a Hamilton courtroom to a charge of conspiracy related to their deaths.
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In his opening statement at the trial, Crown attorney Shane Hickingbottom said Mbuyi was the gunman in the “deliberate and planned killing with an unforeseen outcome.”
Hickingbottom said Reynolds and VanEvery were innocent victims of a contract killing. He told their son, Roger VanEvery, an admitted drug dealer, was supposed to be the target.
“The killers were not provided with a description or a photo, only an address,” said Hickingbotton. “As a result, two innocent individuals were killed by mistake.”
Hickingbottom said Reynolds and VanEvery were asleep at their Park Road South home on the morning of July 18, 2019, when their son Roger woke them to say he’d seen a suspicious vehicle outside. Roger VanEvery was under house arrest and living with his parents who were acting as sureties.
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Hickingbottom said five men had traveled from Toronto to kill VanEvery, arriving at the Park Road house in two vehicles.
Reynolds, 64, was outside watering his lawn and Lynn VanEvery, 62, was nearby when the gunman ran to the house. Reynolds was shot but stumbled through the front door, followed by his wife, who was able to shut and lock the door. The gunman fired through the door sending bullets into VanEvery’s head. Reynolds and VanEvery died in the home.
Hickingbottom said after the shootings, Mbuyi ran back to the car, which fled the scene. He said the abandoned car was found nearby a short time later and that Mbuyi had been cut by glass during the shootings and moved onto the interior of the car.
Roger VanEvery testified Monday he was actively involved in the local drug scene at the time, moving large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl for some local residents. VanEvery testified he was at a home in Jerseyville when he was raided by police and he was arrested.
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VanEvery said he had installed four video cameras at his parents’ home. Footage played in court on Monday showed a vehicle arriving at the house and someone in dark clothing coming to the front door and then leaving.
VanEvery said he told his father to load his gun but the elder man said, “I’m not shooting anyone today.” VanEvery said his father went outside to water the grass and his mom followed. He said he then heard gunshots.
“Dad came running through the door first,” VanEvery said. “It looked like he had bullet holes in his chest.”
He said his mother was shot next. VanEvery said the gunman, who was wearing a mask, “looked right at me,” and ran away.
VanEvery said the shooter was a different person than the one who originally came to his parents’ front door.
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Under cross-examination, VanEvery said he continued to sell drugs while living in his parents’ home but his supplier ended the relationship about six months before VanEvery’s parents were killed.
Also testing on Monday was Brantford Police Const. Christopher Coombe who, along with another officer, was the first to arrive at the scene of the shooting. Coombe said they were nearby on patrol and arrived at the house less than a minute after receiving the call.
Coombe said he told the other officer to start CPR on Lynn Van Every and Reynolds, who were lying in the foyer, and he set about ensuring there were “no other threats in the house.”
Coombe said Roger VanEvery and his girlfriend, who was also in the house, were “frantic and in shock” and testified Roger told him “he thought he knew who might be responsible.”
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Coombe said he also went to the area where the suspect vehicle was abandoned to help with the K-9 tracking.
The judge-only trial is expected to last three weeks.
Seven men were charged with murder or conspiracy in the case: Kareem Zedan, 27, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and Terrell Philbert, Thomy Baez-Eusebio, Dylan Alridge pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit an unspeakable offense with a firearm.
Philbert was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison while Baez-Eusebio and Alridge got time-served sentences of 29 and 30 months.
Salloum Jassem was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiring to commit murder.
The Crown is expected to call 13 witnesses in the trial which continues on Tuesday.
With files from Susan Gamble
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