Young person on trial for 2023 murder in a Sudbury bar

The trial of a young person charged with murder in the 2023 shooting death of Joe Cabigon is underway in Sudbury.

A trial is underway in Greater Sudbury for a now 19-year-old charged with murder in an incident three years ago at Overtime Sports Bar and Grill.

The suspect, who was 16 at the time, is charged in connection with the shooting death on April 21, 2023, of Joe Cabigon, 22. His identity can’t be revealed because he was a young offender at the time of the murder.

Cabigon was shot in the back of the head inside the bar, when it was still located on Notre Dame Avenue. At the time of the murder, there were other patrons and staff nearby.

The judge issued a publication ban on the identity of two witnesses due to take the stand for the Crown.

Also under a publication ban is the name of a co-accused, who remains at large and is wanted for several offences, including being party to murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The first witness Wednesday was Det. Const. Marc Belanger with Greater Sudbury Police.

Belanger said that surveillance videos show the shooting inside the bar, as well as exterior footage of someone running down the street.

There is also surveillance video from several days before the shooting that showed the exterior of a residence on Elizabeth Street. The video shows the murder suspect wearing a hat also worn on the night of the shooting, as well as a blue satchel.

Belanger testified that after the shooting, the police canine unit found a discarded blue satchel containing a handgun. The handgun had its serial number filed off.

The suspect was arrested in Toronto a week after the shooting and brought back to Sudbury.

Another witness testified to being with Cabigon throughout that day, as well as when the shooting happened.

Altercation before the shooting

That witness said there had been an altercation between the victim and a group of men at the bar, including someone wearing a medical face mask.

The witness didn’t know any of the men in the group, although he said he thought he had seen the man in the face mask before.

When the shooting happened, the witness said he “heard a bang,” then “everything was white for a second,” and his “ears were ringing.”

When asked where Cabigon was after the shooting, the witness said, “He’s dead.”

He also testified that he did not see the person who fired the shot.

When asked by the defence about the alcohol he’d consumed and whether it had clouded his memory of the event, the witness responded, “Time is hurting my memory, not the liquor I consumed.”

The trial at the Sudbury courthouse was supposed to be heard by a jury, which was to be picked on Monday, when the city was hit by a powerful snowstorm.

Now the case will be tried by Justice Susan Stothart.