Man found guilty of 2nd-degree murder in Millbrook shooting

A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder aftershooting another man on the front porch of a home in Millbrook, N.S.

Kevin Brian Sylliboywas charged following the incident onWillow Streetin the early morning hours of April 1, 2018. James Blair died from a single gunshot wound to the upper torso.

In a decision handed down Thursday,Justice Jeffrey Hunt of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled thatSylliboy raised his weapon at Blair following an earlier altercation and fired with the intention of striking him with deadly force.

Hunt said although the evidence presented at his trial last fall amounted to a circumstantial case especially given no single witnesssaw everything that occurred he was satisfied the Crown had provenSylliboy committed second-degree murder.

"When the accused pulled the trigger of thefirearm, he knew theconsequenceof his actions would be either to cause Mr. Blair's death or to cause him grievous bodily harm which would likely cause his death, and was reckless whether death ensued or not," wrote Hunt.

Witnesses knew each other

The decision said those who were at the sceneon that night knew each other well, in most cases since childhood.

"This is not a stranger identification case," Hunt wrote.

The decision said shortly before the shooting, Blair, Sylliboy and others were atSylliboy's aunt's home on Brooks Lane in Millbrook. That's where a verbal altercation occurred in the front yard.

As the encounter was winding down, an unnamed person became involved andmade an allegation thatBlair had sexually assaulted her in the past.

The decision said the Crown arguedthis escalated matters and precipitated the events that followed, but the defence asserted there was no evidence Sylliboybelievedthe allegation. Hunt noted witnesses saidSylliboydid appear agitated both before and after the interjection.

'She was scared'

Hunt wrote that a witness, Grace Scott, testified that following the altercation, she drove Sylliboyfrom his aunt's home to another home he had been staying at. He quickly entered the house and came back out with a duffel bag.

"She described the defendant as upset and teary-eyed. She testified that he reached into the duffel bag and brought out a gun. She was scared," the decision said.

Scott then saidSylliboydirected her where to drive, and they eventually arrived at the home onWillow Street where the shooting occurred.

"Witnesses here were well familiar with the accused. The common elements are that various witnesses saw Kevin Sylliboy ... with a firearm," the decision said.

"He was in front of the home ... calling out James Blair. He exited the building and there was an almost immediate gunshot."

Sentencing set for June

Scott testified that following the shooting,Sylliboy got back into thevehicle with the firearm, and as she drove away, he stated that he had killed a man.

Hunt said he found Scott to be a credible witness.

"I believe I was seeing the truthful evidence of someone testifying as to the events of one of the worst days of their life," he wrote.

Sylliboy's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 6 at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Truro, N.S.

A conviction of second-degree murdercarries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, but a judge still needs to determine how longSylliboy will have to serve beforebecomingeligible for parole. The range is between 10 and 25 years.