Stampeder lay on the pavement with dying teammate, murder trial hears

In the moments after Stampeder Mylan Hicks was shot and before paramedics arrived, teammate Jamal Nixon got down on the parking lot pavement and lay with his dying friend, court heard Friday. 

"[Mylan] was actually laying behind a car," said Nixon in his testimony Friday. "I ended up turning Mylan over and pretty much laid there with him until the paramedics came."

Nelson Lugela, 21, is on trial for second-degree murder, accused of killing Hicks, 23, who was shot to death on Sept. 25, 2016, outside the Marquee nightclub. 

Nixon said he and wide receiver DaVaris Daniels arrived at the club just after midnight.

About 20 Stampeders were there that night, celebrating a win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

• 'I don't think he's going to make it': Witness testifies accused killer knew he'd shot Stampeder

Court heard earlier testimony that a group of three men, including Lugela, had become angry with some of the players while inside the bar.

The two groups of friends swore at each other near the bar but ended up doing shots together. 

All of the witnesses have said Hicks was never involved in the altercation.

When the club closed around 2 a.m., people filtered out into the parking lot, where witnesses have said Lugela and his friends instigated another argument that escalated from words to shoving. 

"At that point ... I hear a bottle break and then as the bottle breaks we can see the guy in the white shirt — he's like in the front of the crowd. He ends up pulling a gun out," said Nixon.

Nixon said that's when he started running as gunshots rang out. Then, he heard someone yell, "Mylan's been hit, Mylan's been hit."

Calgary police video analyst Kathy McCaw began presenting her findings Friday. McCaw analyzed video from the club's security cameras and other CCTV footage which appears to show a man with a gun who another witness identified as Lugela.

'I don't think he's going to make it'

Earlier Friday, Justice Keith Yamauchi heard evidence from a friend of Lugela's who was one of two others with him at the bar that night.

On Thursday, Darwin Concepcion testified that Lugela had confessed to pulling the trigger after the trio drove away from the scene.

"I hit two shots," Concepcion said Lugela told him. "I don't think he's going to make it."

But under cross-examination by Lugela's defence lawyer on Friday, Concepcion said he was drunk the night of the shooting and was still trying to piece together what happened.

Hepner challenged Concepcion, pointing out the witness never mentioned that Lugela admitted to shooting Hicks in his original interview with police.

"You didn't tell the detective this last phrase that you told us yesterday. Am I right?," asked Hepner.

"Yes," Concepcion responded.

Police arrested three people, including Lugela and Conception, on Macleod Trail about 45 minutes after the shooting, after one of the Stampeders players — who was being taken in a police van for a witness statement — recognized a man he identified as the shooter. 

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