Mohamad Al-Zawahreh describes events leading to house party brawl and manslaughter charge

Mohamad Al-Zawahreh says he just wanted to retrieve his eyeglasses and runners from a house party and then fight a teen who had been badmouthing him on social media.

Instead, the 24-year-old ended up charged with manslaughter and breaking and entering.

Al-Zawahreh's trial in front of a judge alone at Court of Queen's in Saskatoon wrapped up Thursday. His three co-accused from that Sept. 21, 2019 night on Howell Avenue — Devin Wesaquate, Darrell Dustyhorn and Destin Mosquito — have all pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Kevin Nataucappo.

Nataucappo was part of Al-Zawahreh's group who went to the home and, according to testimony by various witnesses, was shot accidentally during a brawl at the house.

In closing arguments, defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle argued that Al-Zawahreh did not break into the home that night — he knocked on the front door and then was dragged inside. Pfefferle also said that Al-Zawahreh did not know that one of the four men he was with was armed with a shotgun.

"It was not intelligent, but also not unlawful, to return for a consensual fight," he said.

Prosecutor Melodi Kujawa described Al-Zawahreh's version of events as "preposterous," referencing testimony from the three teens in the home who said that he had forced his way into the house and that the man behind him at the door was openly carring the shotgun.

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Under questioning by Pfefferle, it emerged that Al-Zawahreh had been to the Howell Avenue house twice that night, once with a girlfriend and then again with his four friends.

Al-Zawahreh said he first went to the house with his girlfriend because he knew one of the teens and had been invited.

The house belonged to Kim Harper, the sister of Terror Squad founder Darren Harper. Al-Zawahreh had been invited by Calista Harper, Darren Harper's teenage niece.

Al-Zawahreh testified that he originally had misgivings about going to the party because he had an ongoing dispute with Bailey Harper, Calista's brother. The bad blood stemmed from an incident a month earlier when he claimed that Bailey Harper had stolen cocaine from him.

Al-Zawahreh said that Calista Harper assured him that her brother "would drop the beef" for the night.

However, Al-Zawahreh said that all changed when he was accused at the party of "creeping on" Bailey Harper's sister at the party. He admitted that he was very intoxicated and high on cocaine and that Harper's sister had began yelling at him to get out of her bedroom.

He denied that he was in the teen's bedroom.

This led to a confrontation with Bailey Harper. Al-Zawahreh got beat up by a number of people at the party and then was ordered to leave.

"I got sucker punched by Bailey, then the others joined in," he said.

Returning with backup

While driving away, Al-Zawahreh realized that he'd lost his glasses in the fight and that he'd left his runners at the house. He wanted his belongings back, but he he didn't want to return to the party alone.

He said that he went to a friend's house, told him what happened and asked for people to return with him as back up. By this time, he said his friend had already learned on social media that Al-Zawahreh had been kicked out for "creeping" on the young girl.

Al-Zawahreh said he knew of the Harper teens' gang connections but he was undeterred. He did not tell his friends that it was a "Terror Squad house."

"I wanted to get my property back and challenge the guy [Bailey Harper] to a one-on-one fight. I needed to keep my reputation intact."

Al-Zawahreh said he didn't know that one of the people returning in his car had a weapon. Had he known that, he would have told them to not bring a weapon "because this is Darren Harper's nephew and if you bring a gun to his house, it's a beef for life."

Al-Zawahreh said that he parked near the house and then went and knocked on the door, identifying himself. It opened and Bailey Harper grabbed him by the hair and pulled him inside, got him on the ground and began beating him, he said.

"I kept thinking, where are my friends?"

While on the ground, he heard a bang and then people scattered.

"People were yelling, people were running. It was a scary, confusing situation."

He got away from Harper and then took off in his car with Wesaquate and Mosquito. One of his friends, Darrell Dustyhorn, had testified earlier that "I took off on foot because I'm not down with a high-speed chase."

Al-Zawahreh said he didn't realize until later that Nataucappo had not made it out of the house.

He began to head home, but realized he still had neither his glasses or runners. So Al-Zawahreh decided to drive to a Tim Hortons, but was pulled over by police along the way and arrested.

Under cross-examination by Kujawa, Al-Zawahreh admitted that he lied to police consistently through his initial interview, on everything from the circumstances of his invitation to the party to whether he knew there was a machete in the trunk of his car.

Kujawa said that, on balance, his testimony was not credible and that the truth of what happened is that "he wandered into Brianna Harper's bedroom and wouldn't leave when she asked." This led to him getting beaten up, which made him angry and embarrassed and triggered his return with his armed friends.

Justice Richard Elson will give his decision May 21.