The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has decided to retry a man charged with second-degree murder after his first trial ended with a hung jury.
Zakk Lafferty was charged in the death of 17-year-old Deijean Drybones, who died early on August 4, 2023, at Stanton Territorial Hospital of a single stab wound to the chest.
Following a trial lasting a week and a half in Yellowknife, 12 jurors were tasked with determining whether Lafferty was guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter or neither charge.
At the end of three days of deliberations, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case and Justice David Gates declared a mistrial.
The key piece of evidence in the Crown’s case was a statement Deijean gave to police in which he said Lafferty had stabbed him.
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The four other people in the home that morning testified during trial that they were intoxicated and had difficulty recalling what happened.
Police did not recover the weapon used and did not find Deijean’s DNA on Lafferty’s shirt or hands.
While prosecutor Brendan Green argued the jury should find Lafferty guilty of second-degree murder, defence lawyer Kim Arial argued the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that her client had stabbed Deijean.
A new trial date for Lafferty has not yet been set.
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