THUNDER BAY - An Eabametoong First Nation man accused in the 2018 death of 17-year-old Braiden Jacob has pleaded not guilty to the charge of manslaughter.
The trial against Jonathan Yellowhead, 26, opened in a Thunder Bay Courtroom on Monday before Justice Bonnie Warkentin. The trial is being held by judge alone.
Yellowhead was first charged with second-degree murder on Dec. 15, 2018 following his arrest by the Thunder Bay Police Service with the assistance of the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service.
Jacob, who was originally from Webequie First Nation and in Thunder Bay to seek counselling services, was first reported missing on Dec. 6, 2018. His body was found on Dec. 9 in the Chapples Park area by an individual walking his dog. Following a post-mortem examination, police determined his death to be a homicide.
Crown attorney Heather Bracken said during her opening statement that the court will hear about events that took place between Dec. 5 and 9, 2018, which started with a gathering of several young people at an Arthur Street hotel, including Jacob and Yellowhead.
Video surveillance presented to the court shows Jacob and Yellowhead leaving the hotel in the early morning hours of Dec. 6. Bracken said further video evidence shows Jacob and Yellowhead together in the Limbrick Street area before leaving after approximately 15 minutes. This was the last time Jacob was seen alive on video surveillance.
In a videotaped statement by Yellowhead on Dec. 8, 2018 to a NAPS officer in Eabametoong First Nation when Jacob was still considered a missing person, Yellowhead said he was with Jacob at the hotel with several other people and they ran off between 1 and 2 a.m. because a window was broken.
Yellowhead goes on to say that he and Jacob went to the Limbrick Street area and Jacob then told him he was going to meet someone else, so he left Jacob and spent the rest of the night at a residence in the area.
Braken called several members of the Thunder Bay Police Service who attended the Chapples scene to testify, including Det. Const. Patrick Wilson with the Forensic Identification Unit, who took the court through video, photo, and drone footage taken of the scene where Jacob’s body was found behind a small hill in the overflow parking lot near the soccer fields at Chapples Park.
The scene included numerous human and animal foot prints, as well as an area directly by Jacob’s body that appeared to indicate a scuffle had taken place. Jacob’s shoes were also found in the area, as well as a pair of headphones and a key card to the hotel where Jacob and Yellowhead were on Dec. 6.
Photos also revealed several places where blood-like staining was observed in the snow in the immediate area.
Bracken also called to testify Dr. Michael Pickup, a forensic pathologist with the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto who performed the post-mortem examination on Jacob’s body.
According to Pickup’s examination, Jacob’s cause of death was the result of hypothermia in a man with blunt facial trauma and ethanol intoxication, with dilated cardio myopathy, or an enlarged heart, as a possible contributing factor.
Injuries to Jacob’s face included fractures to the orbital bones, nose, and the upper left side of his forehead. Bruising was also observed on his torso, arms, hand, and legs.
Pickup testified that the examination cannot determine if Jacob lost consciousness but the injuries he sustained, as well as the alcohol intoxication, could have rendered him unconscious and therefore a contributing factor to his succumbing to hypothermia.
“There doesn’t have to be necessarily any changes in the brain to result in loss of consciousness,” he said. “But because there is evidence of blunt trauma to the face and head, strikes to the face can cause loss of consciousness.”
“Given the fact that he was outside, hypothermia is the obvious cause for his death. But normally people that are outside and getting cold will seek shelter. Something stopped Braiden from seeking shelter. That is why I have the blunt facial trauma and alcohol intoxication as necessary contributors to his death.”
The injuries to Jacob’s face were also consistent with an assault, Pickup said, based on the pattern of injuries to both sides of the face, lips, and left ear.
“I can’t say for certain what has caused these injuries, no, but they do have a pattern that is very typical for assault,” he said.
During cross-examination by defense counsel Neil McCartney, Pickup agreed that alcohol intoxication can enhance the dangers of hypothermia by suppressing the body’s ability to retain heat.
He was also asked if the injuries observed on Jacob’s body could be the result of falling and striking an object, such as hopping a fence, which Yellowhead said he and Jacob did after leaving the hotel. Pickup agreed that it is possible.
The trial is scheduled to take two weeks. Yellowhead remains in custody.
While in custody in March 2019, Yellowhead received additional charges including obstructing a peace officer, assaulting a peace officer, failure to comply with a probation order, and assault causing bodily harm from an incident that took place at the Thunder Bay District Jail that sent another inmate to hospital with serious injuries and involved several other inmates.
