Trial begins for 2nd person accused in 2018 murder of rapper ‘Smoke Dawg’

More than eight years after the fatal shootings of Jahvante Smart, also known as rap artist “Smoke Dawg,” and Ernest Modekwe, a.k.a. “Koba Prime,” who worked with Smart in the music industry, the double murder trial has begun for a 24-year-old man, who was just 16 years old at the time.

The man, whose identity is covered by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is being tried as a youth in front of Superior Court Justice Michael Dineen.

The accused was arrested by RCMP in Airdrie, Alta., north of Calgary on Jan. 27, 2025, after officers pulled a vehicle over for speeding and illegal window tint and later discovered proceeds of crime.

In 2022, the youth’s co-accused Abdulkadir Handule was convicted by a jury of the second-degree murders of Smart and Modekwe and the aggravated assault of an innocent bystander who was wounded in the leg.

General counsel Ana Tenhouse told Dineen that even though the indictment reads first-degree murder, the prosecution will be seeking convictions for second-degree murder. The man is also charged with the attempted murder of the innocent bystander who was shot in the leg.

Tenhouse said the trial has been reduced to an agreed statement of facts and a video compilation, but there will be no witnesses.

The accused, sitting in the prisoner’s box, stood up and pleaded not guilty as the charges were read out.

Defence lawyer Gary Grill called the evidence “condensed but complex.”

“Identity is conceded. He is at least guilty of aggravated assault,” Grill told Dineen in relation to the woman who was wounded.

The defence told the judge that Crown and defence will launch straight into closing submissions after the video compilation is played. Grill said the issues for court are primarily who caused the deaths, liability and whether his client had the “intent for murder” given he was a youth at the time. Grill also said he will be arguing that his client was provoked.

According to an agreed statement of facts read into the record, on the night of June 30, 2018, Handule and the youth attended Cube nightclub on Queen Street West where a Canada Day long weekend rooftop day party was being held.

Handule, who was 22 at the time, was denied entry to the club because of improper identification. The 16-year-old was denied entry because he was underage.

As a result, Handule and the teen remained in the sidewalk area outside the nightclub.

The youth contacted a man who was his regular driver to whom he paid cash and requested that he pick him up and drive him to Brampton, Ont.