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Jury Deliberates Fate of Adam Drake in Pat Stay Murder Trial

Jurors must assess if circumstantial evidence proves Drake unlawfully stabbed battle rapper Pat Stay at a Halifax nightclub.

 Adam Joseph Drake looks at the media as his hands are cuffed following his arraignment in Halifax provincial court Oct. 31, 2022, on a charge of first-degree murder in the November 2016 shooting death of Tyler Keizer.
The courthouse in Dartmouth, N.S., where a jury has begun deliberating in the second-degree murder trial of Adam Drake after weeks of testimony.
Tyler Keizer, 22, died after he was shot in a vehicle in a parking lot at the corner of Gottingen and Falkland streets in Halifax on the evening of Nov. 21, 2016. Adam Joseph Drake was convicted last year of first-degree murder in Keizer's killing.

Overview

  • The jury began deliberating on June 17 after closing arguments and final instructions from Justice Scott Norton.
  • Drake, 34, is charged with second-degree murder in the September 4, 2022 stabbing of battle rapper Pat Stay at the Yacht Club Social in Halifax.
  • The Crown’s case hinges on circumstantial evidence from surveillance footage showing Stay’s altercation at a VIP table and subsequent fall.
  • Defense lawyer Michael Lacy told jurors the grainy video cannot identify the stabber and noted Drake presented no evidence in his defense.
  • Already serving a life sentence for a 2016 murder, Drake maintains innocence as jurors weigh the evidence to meet the high burden of proof.