Moncton teen shot multiple times in home invasion, Crown tells trial jury

Prosecutors in a Moncton murder trial outlined their case to the jury Tuesday, saying an 18-year-old was shot multiple times during a home invasion and robbery two years ago. 

Crown prosecutor Martine Cormier laid out a "roadmap" of the evidence the 14 jurors are expected to hear over the next four weeks in the trial of Riley Robert Sheldon Phillips.

The 20-year-old is being tried by a jury in Moncton's Court of King's Bench on a charge of second-degree murder. It's alleged he killed Joedin Lloyd Leger, 18, in Moncton on April 25, 2022. Phillips pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday. 

Cormier said a group of four people formed a plan to rob Leger and his girlfriend, Chantal Boudreau, of drugs, money and possibly vape products from their Logan Lane home in Moncton's suburban north end. 

The Crown said Boudreau is expected to testify about waking up early on April 25, 2022, to Leger telling her to call 911 because he had been shot. 

Cormier said Hunter England, Jerek England, Hayden Leblanc, Nicholas McAvoy, and a person who was 17 formed a plan to carry out the home invasion.

The youth cannot be named because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Cormier said the youth is expected to testify about what unfolded. 

She told the jury they will hear that two members of the group asked Phillips to join them.

Cormier said Phillips was handed a loaded gun in the vehicle en route to Logan Lane and that when the group arrived, Phillips and two others left the vehicle. 

The youth is expected to testify that he heard what he believed were gunshots and then saw Phillips leave the Logan Lane duplex. 

Once back in the vehicle, Cormier said she expects the jury will hear Philips had an injury on one hand and that someone put a sweater on it.

She said the jury will hear that Phillips went to a hospital the day after Leger died, with an injury consistent with a gunshot wound.

A red sweater was later seized by police and that a DNA expert will testify about what was found on it, Cormier said.

First witness testifies

After the opening statement, the Crown's first witness testified.

RCMP Const. Justin Leger testified about arriving at Logan Lane, quickly searching the home, and seeing Leger on the ground outside the home.

The officer said Leger appeared to have a gunshot wound through his chest and left leg. 

He said there was a woman nearby "crying hysterically," who he later learned was Chantal Boudreau.

Members of Joedin Leger's family cried as the officer testified about his wounds, with two leaving the courtroom as the testimony continued. 

The officer followed an ambulance transporting Leger to the Moncton Hospital, where he was declared dead just before 7 a.m.

Phillips's lawyer, Brian Munro, cross-examined the officer, asking questions about what he saw inside the home. The officer said he didn't recall seeing other weapons or signs of a struggle while quickly searching it. 

Two other officers who were among the first to arrive at the scene testified Tuesday afternoon.

RCMP Cpl. Bruno Labbé testified he smelled "fresh marijuana" upon entering the home, saw blood just inside the front door, and blood on a car parked in the driveway. He also said he saw what appeared to be a spent .22 calibre cartridge near the vehicle and an unspent .22 round near where Leger was being treated by paramedics. 

RCMP Sgt. Christopher Mackenzie-Plante testified that he had to go into the Logan Lane home to retrieve medication for Boudreau, testifying he saw multiple pill bottles in a cupboard in the kitchen. Mackenzie-Plante said he also saw a "rudimentary" homemade handgun in the house. 

Labbé testified that he later responded to a home on Nancy Street in Moncton, where people related to the investigation into Leger's death were detained. One was Hayden Leblanc and another was Phillips, who Labbé said had some fabric with what appeared to be blood on his right hand.

A question from the jury about whether it needs to see Phillips's face halted testimony Tuesday afternoon.

Justice Robert Dysart told jurors that he and the lawyers would need more time to prepare an answer and sent them home for the night.

It was the second day of the trial. On Monday, the jury was selected. The trial is expected to last about four weeks and hear from dozens of witnesses.