Sarah Mills: Teachers deserve gratitude as school year wraps up
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Court heard testimony from a woman who said she sold cocaine under the direction of Joshua Petrin as his first-degree murder trial continued Wednesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
Jazmyne Night told court she was involved in the drug business for several years, beginning as an experimental user in her early teens and eventually moving into dealing as much as $20,000 worth of cocaine a week.
She said she was childhood friends with several members and associates of the White Boy Posse, including Randy O’Hagan and T.J. Cromartie.
O’Hagan is serving a life sentence for his role in the killing of Lorry Ann Santos, a 34-year-old mother of four who was shot and killed in her home in September 2012.
The Crown alleges Petrin ordered O’Hagan and another man to kill Cromartie, who they believed was living at Santos’ address due to a text messaging mix-up.
Night testified that Petrin was a high-ranking member of the White Boy Posse gang. While she said she was never a member, she said Petrin was her boss.
She described how Petrin would organize a driver to deliver her cocaine to sell, occasionally dropping off packages himself.
She said Petrin also showed her how to cut her product to increase profits and also trained her to make crack cocaine.
Night said Petrin was always paranoid about police surveillance, and that he required workers communicating about drug business to use encrypted messaging when communicating by phone.
She said on some occasions, in-person discussion would be handled by writing notes on a smartphone passed between two people, with each message deleted after it was read.
Beatings were a common feature of life in and around the White Boy Posse, according to Night.
She told court that Petrin and other higher-level members of the gang would routinely order ‘minutes’-timed beatings, often at the hands of several people – for those who displeased them.
She said that after she tried to leave the drug business, Petrin ordered her own cousin to administer a minute on her, telling court he sent her a message afterwards saying he made a family member do it so that it would be especially hurtful.
Night testified that Cromartie had served as Petrin’s right-hand man.
She said Petrin messaged her repeatedly after Cromartie fled the gang, even offering to wipe her drug debts clean if she helped find him.
Night said she was told both by O’Hagan and Petrin’s girlfriend that Petrin was in Saskatoon at the time of the Santos murder.
Night said she made a deal with police to be paid $15,000 to give a statement and testify in court.
She said she asked for the money because she feared for her safety and wanted to have cash on hand to relocate herself and her family if necessary.
