By Bill Graveland/ The Canadian Press

Different suspect pulled trigger in shooting death of Calgary Stampeder: witness

Dec 11, 2018 | 1:17 PM

CALGARY — A defence witness has testified that an individual taller than the accused was the person who pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting of a Calgary Stampeders football player.

Nelson Lugela, 21, is on trial for second-degree murder in the death of Mylan Hicks outside a Calgary bar in September 2016.

Shelley Stevenson told court Tuesday that she was serving drinks at the Marquee Beer Market the night Hicks died. Several Stampeders were there celebrating a victory over Winnipeg.

Hicks, 23, was on the CFL team’s practice roster and died from gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.

Stevenson said she remembers seeing Lugela and another taller man wearing a red vest in a dispute with some of the players earlier in the evening, She specifically remembers the two men because they were rude to her, she told court.

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“I just remember they weren’t very nice about it.”

Stevenson said she was outside the bar at closing time when she saw a group of men pushing and shoving.

“Then I heard someone say, ‘Where’s the gun? Do you have the gun?’ I didn’t see who said it. I just heard it from behind me. It was like a frantic, yelling voice, so it was loud enough for me to hear. And then, at that point, I turned around because I was like what?” she testified.

“I turned around and I saw a man holding a gun and he was like fairly close to me. I like looked over my right shoulder and saw him and he had a gun in his right hand. I just remember him putting it up and shooting it. I remember hearing it and seeing it shoot four times.”

Stevenson said she didn’t know the identity of the shooter but she recognized him.

“He was the man that I saw earlier that was wearing a red vest,” she said.

“You saw the man that you’d seen earlier in the bar in the confrontation? He was one of that group? You said he was wearing red?” asked defence lawyer Alain Hepner.

“Yeah. The guy that I did notice earlier inside that I was serving drinks to was wearing red,” Stevenson replied.

“You saw him raise his right hand and shoot?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes. It was one after the other,” Stevenson said. “I could see him quite clearly. He pulled his gun out right there and I watched him.”

Stevenson said she ran to the bar door and went inside. She says there was panic in the parking lot.

“The shots went off and all of a sudden it was … 100 people screaming.”

Stevenson said another black man, shorter and wearing a white shirt, was next to the shooter when it happened.

A photo entered as evidence and taken by police right after Lugela’s arrest shows him wearing a white polo shirt.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Thomas Spark pointed out that Stevenson told police hours after the shooting that she didn’t get a good look at the gunman.

“I was very concerned. I had a lot of anxiety. I had a lot of shock. I didn’t want to like improperly identify somebody. I remember being very scared and having a lot of anxiety,” she said.

“It was hard for me to even communicate and talk.”

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Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press