Teen already dead when paramedics arrived, Moncton jury hears

Paramedics testified Tuesday that Joedin Leger had been shot multiple times and was dead by the time they arrived at his home two years ago.

"He had no pulse, he had no heart rate," Christopher Johnson, an Ambulance New Brunswick paramedic, testified. 
"Vital signs absent, as we would say. Fully deceased."

Johnson and his colleague Jerome Scott testified during the sixth day of Riley Robert Sheldon Phillips's trial on a charge of second-degree murder. 

Phillips, 20, is accused of killing Joedin Lloyd Leger in Moncton on April 25, 2022. Phillips has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Crown alleges Leger was shot during a home invasion and robbery carried out by Phillips and five others.

The paramedics testified that they saw a woman performing chest compressions on Leger when they arrived at his home on Logan Lane in the city's north end. 

Johnson said the man appeared to have a gunshot wound to his upper right chest, an exit wound in his right armpit, another gunshot wound on his right bicep, and another wound to his left thigh.

Paramedics performed CPR, used a defibrillator and gave him a drug to try to reduce the bleeding, but the man never had a pulse, Johnson said. 

The ambulance arrived at the Moncton Hospital at 6:55 a.m., where Leger was transferred into the care of nurses and doctors. 

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Brian Munro, Johnson said he saw no guns or shell casings while tending to Leger in the driveway.

Other testimony Tuesday came from two police officers.

RCMP Const. Julie Wood testified she interviewed Leger's girlfriend, Chantal Boudreau, on the morning of his death.

"She was very emotional, she was very agitated, she was crying a lot, she was in a state of shock," Wood said. 

Boudreau is expected to testify later in the trial. 

Wood was the police exhibit officer for the case, and her testimony saw the Crown enter various exhibits that were items seized during the investigation. They included a bullet Wood said was recovered from Leger's body during an autopsy. 

The jury has previously heard references to the bullet during testimony from a firearms expert witness. Greg Williams told the jury last week that testing determined the bullet from Leger's body was fired from a revolver recovered by police last year in another case.

Wood also spoke about clothing found outside 31 Nancy St. in Moncton linked to Leger's death, including a red hoodie. 

The Crown told jurors in an opening statement that Phillips was injured and that another person involved in the robbery took off a hoodie and put it on Phillips's hand. 

Earlier on Tuesday, RCMP Cpl. Robert Chiasson completed his testimony that began Friday. The testimony was used to show the jury photos of several people in the hours before Leger was shot. 

Justice Robert Dysart instructed jurors that the testimony was being offered to give context and background about events prior to Phillips's alleged involvement. 

The jury was shown stills from surveillance footage from Lexi's Lounge, a bar on Mountain Road, that showed several people after midnight on April 25.

Chiasson said two of those shown were Hunter and Jerek England, whom the officer said he took statements from as part of the investigation into Leger's death. 

Under cross-examination, Chiasson said he didn't see Phillips in the footage from the bar. 

Murno also asked a series of questions about a person who was 17 at the time and cannot be named. 

Chiasson was asked if the youth was also charged with murder, and the officer said he was. 

Chiasson said that in August 2022, he transported the youth from the New Brunswick Youth Centre in Miramichi to the municipal police station for an interview about the case. 

"A deal was being proposed to have him testify in future trials?" Munro asked. 

Prosecutor Stephen Holt objected to the line of questions, and the jury was sent out of the courtroom.

What happened while the jury wasn't present cannot be reported. When they returned, Chiasson was asked more questions about the interview.

The jury heard that while the youth was being transported back to jail after the recorded interview, Chiasson showed him an image of a home in Irishtown, north of Moncton. 

Chiasson said the interview had a reference to a firearm and the home. Chiasson said it was the home of Hunter and Jerek England's father.

The trial is scheduled to continue for three more weeks.