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One of three men on trial in a case accused of committing a triple murder in Rivière-des-Prairies three years ago admitted to the stand frequently in the coming months to deal drugs with a loaded automatic firearm. Until the day the murders were committed.

The trial at the Montreal courthouse began in September and the defense began last week with the testimony of one of the defendants, 29-year-old Clifford Domerchant-Barosy.

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The other two people on trial before a jury are 26-year-old Jonas Castor and 24-year-old Stevenson Choute. They are charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of discharge of a firearm.

The drive-by shooting occurred on August 2, 2021. Some of the victims were outside an apartment building on Perras Avenue near 53rd Street, and others were inside sitting near the patio window of a basement apartment.

Just before 7 p.m., two vehicles passed by and 26 shots were fired. Bullets hit people both outside and inside the basement. Among those killed in the conflict were 29-year-old Jerry Willer Jean-Baptiste, 29-year-old Jafferson (Soldier) Syla, and 63-year-old Molière Dantes.

On Monday, prosecutor Louis Bouthillier continued his cross-examination of Domerchant-Barosy, going over evidence found on a cellphone seized in the Montreal police investigation. It featured a video of Domerchant-Barosy’s blue-gloved hand holding a 9mm handgun, rotating it back and forth until the barrel was pointed directly at the lens of the phone’s camera.

Domerçant-Barosy said the gun was never working and that he recorded the video to send a message to the person who sold it to him, stating that he planned to return it in November 2020.

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Domerchant-Barosy said he decided to buy a firearm because he was robbed while selling marijuana to three people. He said the trio stole 28 grams of weed for him, valued at about $150.

“So you bought a firearm because your $150 was stolen?” Bouthillier asked during the exchange.

The defendant replied, “Yes, if you perceive it that way.”

Bouthillier asked a series of questions about another firearm Domerchant-Barosy purchased after the 9 mm pistol stopped working. He admitted to purchasing a .380-caliber automatic firearm for $4,500. It was the same firearm he was carrying when the fatal shooting occurred.

Domerçant-Barosy said that since he did not know the people he sold drugs to, he brought them with him to the drug trade.

“How many times did you bring him (to the drug trade) between November (2020) and (the day of the triple murder)?” The prosecutor asked.

The defendant spoke vaguely: “There were times when it was full,” Domerchant-Barosy said. “Sometimes it was loaded into memory… most of the time.”

When he began testifying last week, Domerchant-Barosy said that on the day in question, he participated in a marijuana deal with an automatic weapon because he did not know the people he was dealing with. He said the two men he eventually sold him to asked him to “scare” someone with a firearm. He said he accepted the request because he saw these men as his future clients. He also said that when he approached the apartment building where the attack took place, he heard gunshots and realized that he and his friend, 28-year-old Marlon Villa-Guzman, the driver of the vehicle, had been shot at. He told the jury his reflex was to fight back.

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Villa-Guzman is serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role in the shooting. He gave a statement to the prosecutor’s office at the beginning of the hearing. His interpretation of what happened differed significantly from Domerchant-Barosy’s. For example, Villa-Guzman said he did not know that Domerchant-Barosy was armed when he passed by the apartment building. He said Domerchant-Barosy removed the firearm from the glove compartment before opening fire.

On Monday, Domerchant-Barosy said he knew all along that Villa-Guzman was carrying an automatic weapon and that he kept the gun on his hip as he walked toward the apartment building on Perras Boulevard.

Domerchant-Barosy said on Monday that his former friend lied when he testified. He also said he was “surprised” to learn that Villa-Guzman had decided to become a witness for the prosecution.

“Did you send him (Villa-Guzman) a letter offering $10,000 to change his testimony?” Bouthillier asked.

The defendant refused to send the letter and the prosecutor asked him to read it.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Boucher, who presided over the trial, told the jury that because the letter had not been introduced into evidence, they should not take it into account when deliberating.

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