Murder trial for B.C. gang shooting that killed bystander begins

Dressed in a navy blue suit, Kane Carter stood tall in the prisoner’s box and calmly entered not guilty pleas to the three charges against him in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Monday.

The 28-year-old, who’s being tried by jury, is charged with the second-degree murders of 15-year-old Alfred Wong, an innocent bystander and 23-year-old Kevin Whiteside, an alleged gang member, and the aggravated assault of Shaiful Khondoker, another innocent bystander who was shot but survived.

The incident happened on Jan. 13, 2018, when Wong, a Coquitlam high school student, was in the back seat of his family’s car, when he was caught in the crossfire of a reckless gunfight on East Broadway near Ontario Street.

Wong was killed, as was Kevin Whiteside, a 23-year-old Vancouver resident who was known to police and believed to be “involved in gang life.” At first, police believed Whiteside was the target of the shooting, but later said he was the one who instigated the deadly violence.

Vancouver police said in 2019 Whiteside was in the area to kill 28-year-old Matthew Navas-Rivas, who was dining out at a restaurant.

When Navas-Rivas left the restaurant, Whiteside reportedly shot at him, and a second person, who the Crown believes was Carter, opened fire.

Navas-Rivas wasn’t injured, but was killed in another shooting months later near an East Vancouver elementary school.

In the Crown’s opening address to the jury, prosecutor Don Montrichard said Wong was struck in the right side of his chest with a single bullet, and he underwent emergency surgery but died a few days later.

Carter has admitted that he flew from Hamilton, Ont., to Abbotsford, B.C., in October of 2017, and began renting a condo under his younger brother’s name in November of 2017.

He also admits he flew back to Ontario on Jan. 20, 2018, one week after the fatal shootings.

Montrichard said much of the Crown’s case is circumstantial, relying heavily on video footage and cellphone records.

He says a black Pontiac van, believed to be Carter’s getaway vehicle, will also be a focal point of their case.

Montrichard says investigators later found the van parked in the underground parkade of the Surrey condo building where Carter was renting a unit.

He says Carter’s DNA as well as three fired bullet cases were found inside.

Carter has admitted that a vehicle of that make and model was parked near the shooting scene on the night of Jan. 13.

Montrichard says the Crown will call around 50 witnesses.

The trial is expected to run until late November.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Alyse Kotyk