Connor Whitehead’s dad clearly remembers the last words he said to his son. James Whitehead spoke to Herald reporter Sam Sherwood at the end of a murder trial which recounted the fateful night when Connor was shot dead at a girl’s 15th birthday party. This piece was first published in May and today the two men found guilty over Connor’s killing were sentenced in the High Court.
One of Connor’s friends was standing beside him when he saw the VW pull up. He told the jury he spotted a shotgun out of the driver’s door window.
The partygoer then yelled out “he’s got a gun, get inside, get inside”.
He ran to the garage and shut the door before running inside the house.
“It was like you’re either frozen or running,” he said.
“Everyone was stressed out, no-one knew what to do… it was just their instinct.”
Another witness said she believed one of the partygoers was arguing with a man who was pointing a gun at him. She heard the teen mention the Neighbourhood Crips (NHC) gang, and the man with the gun who had mentioned Black Power. The pair were talking “quite aggressively”.
At some stage in the altercation a bottle, or bottles, were thrown at the car with one smashing the driver’s window.
Several partygoers overheard a teen who was arguing with the man with the gun, described as wearing what appeared to be a mask, yell “Just shoot me”.
She did not see the gunshot go off but heard it, the sound was so loud some partygoers reported a ringing noise in their ears.
Steedman said she heard kids screaming, “he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun”.
When she went outside there were people everywhere.
She then heard two gunshots and hid behind a tree.
“Everyone hid,” she said.
“People were hiding everywhere they could hide.”
Read the full story of the trial and the interviews with Connor’s parents below.
