Jurors must decide on intent as deliberations begin in Desjarlais-Kelly murder trial

Jurors were presented with a decision between a fatal shot fired out of self-defence or with the intent to kill during final arguments in Katlim Desjarlais-Kelly’s second-degree murder trial Thursday.

Desjarlais-Kelly, 23, is accused of killing Arden Panipekeesick, 48, during a gunfight in a home in Saskatoon’s Caswell Hill neighbourhood on Feb. 10, 2024.

Defence lawyer Patrick McDougall says Desjarlais-Kelly shot Panipekeesick because he was scared of Panipekeesick shooting him, and Desjarlais-Kelly could have been killed if Panipekeesick was a better shot.

McDougall argued that Desjarlais-Kelly ran following the shooting because he was afraid.

The court has heard testimony that during an exchange of gunfire, the fatal shot splintered through a doorjamb and fragments of the bullet hit Panipekeesick.

Crown prosecutor Lee Hnatiuk told the jury they must determine whether the shot that killed Panipekeesick was intentional or recklessly discharged during a gunfight.

Hnatiuk said it makes little sense for Desjarlais-Kelly to be blindly firing shots because he testified that he had been to the home regularly and he knew multiple people who were at the home. In Desjarlais-Kelly’s testimony, he said he visited the home where Panipekeesick lived almost every day to see friends who lived there.

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Panipekeesick’s wife, Eva Pritchard, testified that she met Desjarlais-Kelly once in the three months that they lived at the house.

Hnatiuk said McDougall’s self-defence argument does not add up because Desjarlais-Kelly returned to the house after the initial gunfight to fire what ended up being a fatal shot.

The jury began deliberations Thursday night.