Connor Whitehead was killed in November 2021. Photo: Give a Little
A Christchurch teenager asked for help to scare gang members at an out-of-control birthday party that ended in the senseless loss of Connor Whitehead's life, a court has heard.
The 16-year-old was shot dead at close range while standing outside the party with friends in Casebrook in November 2021, just hours after he and his father parted ways saying they loved each other.
Daniel Nelson Sparks, 44, and Joshua David Craig Smith, 33, are standing trial at the High Court accused of murdering Connor when they arrived with guns to scatter the late-night crowd in Heaphy Place.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Harvey told the court the 15-year-old birthday girl's mother was worried about the party getting too big and rowdy - and her fears were realised.
The men are standing trial at the High Court at Christchurch. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
"The worst-case scenario occurred. Too many people attended, the young people in attendance drank too much, older uninvited young men made their way there and caused problems, fights were started," he said.
Harvey said up to 100 people were at the party, including young men in blue with an apparent association with the Crips gang.
"A couple of those young men had been going around the party causing trouble. They had been hitting or assaulting other party attendees and some of those who were assaulted had to go inside the house and tend to their minor injuries," he said.
Things got so bad, one of the distressed party-goers called for help because he was scared gang members were going to hurt him, Harvey said.
"The Crown case is that Daniel Sparks and Joshua Smith received that call for help. They armed themselves with loaded firearms and went to the party," he said.
Harvey said there was a heated argument outside with gang signs and yelling when the men arrived armed with a Mossberg pump-action shotgun and sawn-off Stevens shotgun.
Connor Whitehead was standing in the driveway with friends.
"The Crown case is that from here, there were two shots fired. One by each of the firearms, one by each of the defendants. From the evidence, the most likely scenario is that Mr Smith was armed with the Stevens shotgun, which was the sawn-off one, and that he fired the fatal shot," he said.
"Mr Sparks was armed with the Mossberg, which fired a shot into the air, likely from the car. Connor Whitehead was hit in the chest and killed, his injuries were not survivable."
Harvey said Connor was shot at close range, from about nine to 12 metres away.
"No-one has suggested that he was in any way part of the aggression or disorder," he said.
After the shooting, police used emergency powers to intercept the Sparks' and Smith's phone calls.
The court heard Smith told an associate he had a "run-in with the Crips," that "30 or 40 of them came out of nowhere and they were getting surrounded by them so we popped off some shots bro and we might have shot one of them".
Later on, Smith comments that "he could be f...... dead".
Joshua Smith's lawyer Daniel Kirby told the court he accepted responsibility for Connor's death, but was guilty of manslaughter not murder.
"Connor Whitehead was totally innocent. His killing was shocking, senseless and should never have happened," he said.
"Mr Smith accepts it was his fault. He accepts he is responsible for this young boy's death. 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."
Daniel Sparks' lawyer Nicola Pointer said he did not fire the fatal shot and was not guilty of murder.
"We can all agree that the tragedy that unfolded on the night of November 5, 2021 resulted in the totally senseless loss of a young man's life, but this was a tragedy that Mr Sparks could not have and did not foresee," she said.
Pointer said Sparks fired into the air to scatter the crowd so he and Smith could leave and did not know anybody had been shot.
James Whitehead speaks to media after Connor's death (file image). Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Connor's father James Whitehead told the court his son had earlier asked for permission to go to a party, but had instead decided to stay home with friends.
"I went to the movies with a friend and left home around 7:30pm. Connor was still at home and I said 'Have fun, I love you' and he said 'I love you'. That was the last time I saw Connor and the last words I spoke to him," he said.
Whitehead said two police officers arrived on his doorstep at 12:30am to tell him Connor had been killed.
"I felt my fingers go numb. I went into shock immediately. Everything was a blur from then on," he said.
The jury trial before Justice Melanie Harland was expected to last three weeks.
