Bush party shooting witness didn't call police immediately: 'I regret it'
Under tough cross-examination from defence lawyer Nathan Gorham at the London courthouse on Wednesday, Rachel Johnson, 21, was asked a number of times why there was a delay in calling 911 after she and others found victim Josue Silva lying on the ground with a gunshot wound.
Johnson responded, "It's hard to tell, emotions were high… I was walking around trying to get people to help."
She testified that she and dozens of other young people were all at a bush party bash off Pack Road in southwest London on July 30, 2021, when her friend Josue Silva was mortally wounded. Johnson testified that she was being truthful when she said that they weren’t trying to hide anything from police, "I'm not sure why I didn't call 911 right away." She added, "It was very frantic, I was scared and everything around me was very hectic... I regret it."
The 18-year-old Silva would end up being rushed to hospital where he would later be pronounced dead.
Josue Silva is seen in this undated family photo. (Source: Westview Funeral Chapel)
After a police investigation, Emily Altmann, 22, identified in court as one of the partygoers and Carlos Guerra Guerra, 23, would be charged with second degree murder and assault causing bodily harm. Each of them has plead not guilty.
Later under re-examination Johnson said that she was told by the Crown to be truthful while on the stand, and that she has been.
Before wrapping up her testimony she recalled the night of the shooting - fighting back tears when she told the jury, "I was not thinking straight I had not experienced that before... I don't in that moment know why I didn't call 911."
London, Ont. police investigate a fatal shooting on Pack Road in the city's southwest corner on Saturday, July 31, 2021. (Brent Lale/CTV London)
She continued, "Because, when you reflect back on a night like that it's hard not to think what could I have done for things to turn out differently... and I don't know if things would have, it's a regret of mine."
The trial which is now into its second week resumes on Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Get away from your inner circle': Liberal MP 'shocked' PM didn't take more time to reflect on calls to resign
Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Long says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should give more weight to the views of his backbenchers in determining his future leading the Party, rather than relying on those in his immediate orbit.
Mother who beat and starved her 5-year-old son to death sentenced to over 50 years in prison
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
An abrupt goodbye to a guerilla goldfish aquarium beneath a leaky Brooklyn fire hydrant
A makeshift aquarium that popped up this summer in a puddle beneath a leaky fire hydrant has been paved over, to the dismay of neighbors who turned the area into a hangout spot and goldfish shrine.
Canadian warship missile test aborted mid-flight after communication failure
A Canadian navy missile test was aborted mid-flight this week after controllers lost communication with the projectile off the coast of southern California.
'The power of nostalgia': N.B. archivist creates highway time machine
The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) has uploaded dozens of dashboard camera videos from the 1970s to their YouTube channel.
'Violence is not good': UW stabber apologizes at end of sentencing hearing
Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, the man who stabbed three people in a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo, says he ‘acted dumb’.
'I'm still not giving up': Third stage of landfill search begins in Manitoba
It's been a long and emotional journey for Manitoba residential school survivor Susan Caribou. Her niece, Tanya Nepinak, has been missing since September 2011 and has never been found.
B.C. nurse suspended 1 week for stealing narcotics for personal use, working while impaired
A B.C. nurse has been suspended for one week for diverting narcotics from their workplace and using them personally, according to the regulatory body for the profession.
Former Alberta teacher sentenced to 4 years for sexually assaulting student
A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.