Connor Whitehead, 16, was shot dead at the party in the northern Christchurch suburb of Casebrook on November 5, 2021.
Connor Whitehead, 16, was shot dead at the party in the northern Christchurch suburb of Casebrook on November 5, 2021.
A partygoer has told a jury of the moment Connor Whitehead told him he had been shot, moments before he died.
Connor Whitehead, 16, was shot dead at the party in the northern Christchurch suburb of Casebrook on November 5, 2021.
Two men, Daniel Nelson Sparks and Joshua David Craig Smith, are charged with murdering Whitehead.
On Monday, a three-week jury trial began in the High Court at Christchurch before Justice Melanie Harland. The pair pleaded not guilty to the charges before the trial began.
On Wednesday, the jury heard from several partygoers.
One of the partygoers, who had been invited through a friend, said there were several fights as the evening went on, in the driveway, the backyard and the cul-de-sac.
Later in the evening, he was standing near the footpath when a car arrived and a man got out with a shotgun. He said two shots were fired.
After the shooting, “everyone started running in different directions”, the teen said.
Shortly after that, the partygoer heard a teen tell him he had been shot. The teen, Connor Whitehead, then fell to the ground and appeared to be “seizuring”. The partygoer could see blood, and soon realised Whitehead, whom he had not met before, was dead.
The first time he had seen Whitehead was when he was running next to him.
“I was stressing out for like 30-40 seconds, I didn’t know what to do … I didn’t know if it was an active shooter and I was in quite an open position.”
The teen ran inside the house screaming “a kid’s been shot”. Not many people initially believed him, he said.
He then went down the hallway, banging on a bedroom door where he could hear people screaming not to let him in, thinking he may have been the shooter. One of his friends recognised him and let him in. The friend then called police.
They left the house and he jumped up against a fence and saw two or three people around Whitehead, with someone giving him CPR.
The partygoer and two of his mates then jumped the fence and ran into the school.
The jury earlier heard from another partygoer who said his evening started at his house with a couple of mates before going to another friend’s home who told them about a party in Casebrook.
The group got dropped off at the party, with the partygoer speaking to a man who lived at the address when he arrived. He said the adult told him: “This is my house, just make sure you respect it.”
He then went outside and saw Whitehead, with whom he went to intermediate school, in the driveway and the two had a short catch-up.
Later in the evening, there was a tussle outside, which partygoers went to watch, he said.
“It’s just what happens at every party, to be honest.”
The teen went back inside and, when he returned outside, he saw a car pull up and a man with a gun get out. Another man was heard yelling “Yoza”, he said.
“I think they were trying to scare us.”
He heard one of the partygoers saying: “Just shoot me, you’re a b…., you won’t”. People were also throwing bottles at the men’s car.
The partygoer said the armed man, who appeared to be wearing a mask, with a cap, a black hoodie and pants, was waving a shotgun around. The partygoer did not think it was loaded.
“I wasn’t really that fazed by it. I just thought it was a scare tactic.”
A short while later he heard a gunshot and hid behind a tree. There was a second shot and he heard someone yell: “Connor’s dead.”
Under cross-examination by Smith’s lawyer James Rapley KC, the teen was asked about a photo of him and another teen taken after the party.
The teen said the W he was making with his fingers stood for West Side because he lived on that side of the city. He denied it had anything to do with the Crips, and said he just liked the colour blue.
He said his friend in the photo was also not a Crip. “He might feel like he is, but not that I know of anyway.”
Asked by Rapley if he had kicked someone in the face, he said he had not. Rapley said at least two people had claimed he kicked them. The partygoer said that was incorrect.
Rapley asked if he was threatening anyone, to which he replied that some people were threatening him and his mates, and they “may have retaliated back” with their own threats.
He could not recall his friend getting into an argument with one of the men with a gun.
Another witness earlier told the court they overheard the teen yelling to one of the men, “Don’t you know who my uncle is?” The teen had earlier been heard by another witness mentioning the Neighbourhood Crips (NHC) gang.
Under questioning by Rapley, the teen said he did not know who his uncle was. Asked by Rapley if it could be the leader of the NHC, he said: “Not too sure, could be.”
The teen denied he had lied through his police interview.
Asked by Rapley where his friend was now, he said he was “locked up” for a “king hit”.
Asked what happened to the person his friend hit, he said he “unfortunately passed away”.
Daniel Nelson Sparks, left, and Joshua David Craig Smith have pleaded not guilty to murdering Connor Whitehead. Photo / George Heard
The Crown alleges both accused responded to a call for help from Sparks’ son by arming themselves with loaded firearms – a Stevens shotgun and a Mossberg shotgun – in Smith’s VW Golf.
About 11pm the two accused arrived at the party. Sparks’ son pointed out the group of people acting aggressively towards him. Sparks approached them and there was a verbal argument. Gang signs were pulled and there was yelling.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Harvey began the trial on Monday before six men and six women by saying two shots were fired, one by each of the firearms, one by each of the defendants.
The two shots were about six seconds apart. The Crown says the most likely scenario is that Smith fired the fatal shot that struck Whitehead and that Sparks fired a shot from the Mossberg into the air, likely from the car.
Whitehead was shot in the chest. His injuries were not survivable.
There was no suggestion Whitehead was at all involved in the disorder and was standing between 9 and 12 metres away when the gun was fired at him.
After the second shot was fired, the two men left the scene.
Connor Whitehead's father, James Whitehead, arrives at court ahead of the three-week murder trial. Photo / George Heard
After the fatal shooting, police used emergency powers to intercept calls. A few hours after the shooting a call was intercepted between Sparks, Smith and an associate.
Smith said he had a run-in with the Crips, with 30 or 40 of them coming out of nowhere and surrounding them. Shots were fired and someone may have been hit.
In his interview, Smith said he did not fire any shots. Sparks said he got out of the car and, while out of the car, heard a shot being fired. After he heard the shot, he got his firearm and fired a shot in the air before they left.
Harvey said both men could be found guilty of murder, regardless of who fired the fatal shot.
Smith’s lawyer, Daniel Kirby, said his client accepted he was responsible for Whitehead’s death.
However, he said his client was guilty of manslaughter, not murder.
Joshua David Craig Smith is charged with murdering Connor Whitehead. Photo / George Heard
“Mr Smith never intended to kill Connor. He never intended to cause Connor bodily harm, and he never thought that Connor or anyone else would be likely to die.”
He said Smith lied in his police interview from his hospital bed, but that did not mean he was a murderer.
Sparks’ lawyer, Nicola Pointer, said he did not fire the fatal shot, and he had no idea things would unfold the way they did.
“What occurred went well beyond any common purpose that could’ve existed between the men when they travelled to the party.”
