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Amber Beach had just been shot in the back, and the gunman was still in the backseat of her boyfriend’s truck, when she opened her passenger door, rolled onto the ground, crawled away and called 911 as she hid under a parked car, jurors heard Monday.
Beach’s incredible story of survival emerged on Day 1 of Paulos Berhe’s second-degree murder trial in Calgary.
Berhe is accused of fatally shooting Beach’s boyfriend, 43-year-old Donald Lyons, immediately after he allegedly shot her, prosecutor Peter Mackenzie told jurors.
The Crown’s theory of the crime comes from Mackenzie’s opening statement.
‘Drug deal gone wrong’
Jurors heard that both Lyons and Beach were shot on the night of Dec. 18, 2023, in what Mackenzie described as a “drug deal gone wrong.”
The shooting took place at the now-closed Portico Hookah Lounge in the city’s southeast.
The night of the shooting, the couple left Beach’s home so that Lyons could buy drugs, according to the Crown.
Mackenzie told jurors that Lyons’ text messages revealed he had $9,000 to “buy product.”
At the lounge, Lyons met up with a man in a hoodie and dark puffer jacket who got into the back of his truck.
Beach hid under car
Beach is expected to testify that the man, who the Crown alleges is Berhe, pulled out a handgun and shot her in the back before firing at least two bullets into Lyons, who was in the driver’s seat.
Beach managed to roll out of the vehicle and hide under a parked car while calling 911.
Surveillance video will show the shooter then riffled through the truck. The Crown believes he was searching for Lyons’ money.
Mackenzie told jurors the Crown intends to prove, based on Berhe’s DNA being found “in the shooter’s position” inside the truck, that the accused is guilty of the murder.
Other evidence that led police to Berhe, said Mackenzie, includes CCTV footage, phone records and cellphone data.