‘There was no life’: North Bay officer describes finding murder victim

A second-degree murder trial is underway in North Bay surrounding the death of Tristan Ayers, 33, just days before Christmas a little over three years ago.

Warning: Some details in this story may be disturbing to readers

A murder trial got underway in North Bay on Tuesday for Brandon Nakogee, who is charged with the death of 33-year-old Tristan Ayers just before Christmas in 2022.

Nakogee, who was 29 at the time, and Trevor Goulais were charged with second-degree murder in connection with the case. Goulais has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The court heard Ayers bled to death in an LCBO parking lot at the corner of Fraser and Worthington streets in the early hours of Dec. 17, 2022.

North Bay police Const. Brodie Beard testified he was driving along Main Street East at 2:18 a.m. when he noticed a woman “hunched over” near the Capitol Centre.

She was known to him as a drug user and he approached to check on her well-being.

She told him she was fine, but said a man named Tristan had been jumped by two men near an alleyway, without specifying what she actually saw.

Beard testified he drove to the nearby liquor store parking lot and saw something dark on the ground. He pulled in and found Ayers’ body near a guardrail at the back of the lot.

Beard said he called out to Ayers as he pulled up, but there was no response.

“There was no life there,” he told the court.

Beard called for help, as well as for tarps and blankets to preserve evidence. Other emergency responders arrived, including forensic identification officers who took photos and documented the scene.

A large section of the downtown area was then blocked off for the investigation. Beard said he was then assigned to block traffic. The scene was cleared shortly after 8:15 a.m.

A graphic crime scene photo taken by Const. Dale Valade was shown to the jury. It showed first responders performing CPR on the body under an oval-shaped floodlight.

When he was killed, Ayers had long dark hair and was wearing dark clothing, blue jeans and black boots. A large pool of blood stained the snow underneath him, the area around him and the nearby guardrail.

Beard noted that a one-inch by two-inch stick with a screw sticking out of it near Ayers’ feet was also stained with blood.

During cross-examination by defence attorney Laurie Galway, Beard testified that two other officers saw blood droplets on First Avenue West.

Superior Court Justice Greg Ellies interjected, reminding the jury that Beard’s testimony should be considered “hearsay,” since they didn’t hear it directly from the two officers.

Paramedic Shayne Petrusma testified he arrived on the scene with another paramedic and a student. He told the court that despite their best efforts to perform CPR, Ayers had no vital signs or pulse.

His body was placed on a stretcher and taken to the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

In his opening statement to the jury, Crown attorney Michael Crystal said Ayers and the woman were huddled in a nearby alleyway by a fire to keep warm while another man went to discuss drugs with Nakogee.

Crystal said that Nakogee and Goulais then showed up and beat Ayers with the blood-stained stick. He said Nakogee then stabbed him in the back with a knife, severing an artery, causing Ayers to bleed to death in the parking lot.

Knife was never recovered

The knife was never recovered.

The court heard that Nakogee was arrested that evening around 7:30 for an unrelated investigation and was released on bail. He was arrested again Dec. 23, this time for the murder.

During the proceedings, Nakogee sat beside Galway, wearing a long-sleeved pale blue and white striped dress shirt and navy-blue dress pants.

In his opening address to the jury, Ellies reminded them that their job is not to judge people but to judge the evidence. They must resist the temptation to jump to conclusions.

“Punishment has nothing to do with your task,” he said. “You are judges of the facts.”

It’s expected that the jury will hear from several police investigators and a biologist. Forensic pathologist Dr. Martin Queen will lay out the cause of death, and the woman who was with Ayers that night will also testify.

The Crown also told the jury that police investigator Al Bedard will detail security camera footage from downtown businesses that will show Nakogee’s movements to and from the parking lot that night.

Galway did not make an opening statement to the jury.