Jurors watch video of police interview with suspect in woman’s stabbing death

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This article was published 15/04/2015 (3827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police homicide detectives didn’t try to hide their disgust as they interrogated a man suspected of the cold-blooded execution of a young woman outside her home.

Jurors began watching the lengthy videotaped police interview Wednesday of Trevyonne Willis. The 22-year-old has pleaded not guilty to first-degree for the June 2012 killing of Kaila Tran, 27.

“You’ve impacted so many people’s lives. You’re in a deep, deep pile here,” Det.-Sgt. Miles Riddell told Willis.

The arrest came six days after Tran was ambushed by a man dressed in black as she left her St. Vital apartment complex and walked to her car. She had been stabbed more than 30 times, and frantic efforts by neighbours to save her were unsuccessful.

“When people look at this, a broad daylight murder, they’re going to say what would possess someone?” said Riddell. He told Willis there really wasn’t a more “crazy” place to commit a homicide than the quiet, friendly neighbourhood where this occurred – especially with so many potential witnesses around.

“You may as well have gone to centre ice at the MTS Centre and done it,” he said.

‘You gotta face this’

Willis says little during the first two hours of the video. He is frequently resting his head on the table and even closing his eyes at various points as Riddell and his partner grill him over what happened.

“We know the what. We just need to know the why. You want to be the carefree killer, the guy who went out and killed someone for no reason?” asked Riddell. “You’re not a hired assassin, right?”

“No,” Willis responds quietly.

“This isn’t something that goes away. You gotta face this, one way or another. You gotta live with this the rest of your life,” said Riddell.

At one point, the officers tell Willis they know his mother died of illness when he was just seven years old. They play on that emotion, saying at least his family had the chance to say goodbye to her.

“Kaila’s mom, Kaila’s sister didn’t get the same chance. You took that from them,” said Riddell. The officers tell Willis his mother would be disappointed in what became of him.

Jurors will conclude watching the video on Thursday, at which point the Crown is expected to close its case following two weeks of evidence.

‘Robbery is a lot different than murder’

Willis is accused of killing Tran to get out of a massive drug debt. The key witness against him is former friend, Tremaine Sam-Kelly, testified last week how he spent considerable time with Willis in the days before the slaying, then joined him on the morning it happened.

He said he only agreed to provide “emotional support” for his friend and was stunned at the brutality of Willis’s actions.

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“I just thought she’d get slapped around a little bit and then get jacked,” he said on the witness stand last week. “Robbery is a lot different than murder. It happened a lot differently than I thought.”

Sam-Kelly had met Willis a couple of months earlier and the pair spent time doing drugs together, including in the hours before the fatal ambush. He said Willis was a desperate man willing to do anything to dig himself out of a huge financial hole linked to his drug habit.

He claimed Willis was approached by someone — Sam-Kelly said he doesn’t know who — and given an “out.” Willis explained he knew Tran through her boyfriend, and that Tran was going to be targeted because she was a “snitch” against her boyfriend.

“(Willis) said if we get rid of her, he can give me the money. The boyfriend,” said Sam-Kelly. He said the plan involved stealing items such as Tran’s bank cards, and even her car, that would ultimately be used by Tran’s boyfriend to give money to Willis he could use against his drug debts.

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Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.