After a new jury was selected, a retrial over the death of Deijean Drybones heard from those who were with the 17-year-old the night he died, RCMP officers, and the coroner who performed the autopsy.
Deijean was found with a stab wound in Behchokǫ̀ in the early morning of August 4, 2023. He was taken to Behchokǫ̀’s health centre and later Stanton Territorial Hospital, where he died.
Zakk Lafferty was charged with second-degree murder in 2023. In October 2025, a mistrial was declared after the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
A new jury was selected on Monday this week and a retrial began on the same day with the Crown’s opening statement.
This week, jurors heard from four individuals who were in the house with Deijean when he was stabbed, a witness who had a Snapchat call with Deijean earlier that night, and some of the RCMP officers who responded to the stabbing and investigated the scene.
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Lawyers for the Crown and defence questioned a forensic investigator who attended the scene about the process by which he chose what to sample for fingerprints, how items were identified to be seized, and the process for seizing and testing items.
In response, the forensic investigator said pictures of the scene are taken as it is found, without disturbing anything. If, during their walkthrough of the scene, an investigator identifies an item that could be relevant, they flag it to the major crimes unit, who would ask that it be marked for seizure.
The investigator said no fingerprint samples were taken at the scene because they couldn’t find an item that was relevant and suitable to do so, and no footprints were found at the scene because the hallways were too trafficked.
The coroner who performed the autopsy also testified, confirming the cause of death was a stab wound to the right side of Deijean’s chest. She said Deijean had a blood alcohol concentration at which the average person would be considered intoxicated, but she couldn’t speak to specifically how intoxicated Deijean was or how it would have affected him.
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Three RCMP officers testified that Deijean and four other individuals in the house appeared to be intoxicated when police arrived at the scene. One of those individuals testified on Thursday that the four and Deijean had been drinking together throughout the day.
A key piece of evidence jurors heard on Friday was a recording by RCMP officers Maude Martel and Blake McNeil in which McNeil asked Deijean what happened and Deijean said he was stabbed.
McNeil further asked Deijean who stabbed him. Deijean said Zakk Lafferty. McNeil testified that Deijean also told him before the recording began that Lafferty had stabbed him.
The trial continues next week.
In 2025, following a first trial lasting a week and a half in Yellowknife, 12 jurors were tasked with determining whether Lafferty was guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter or neither charge.
At the end of three days of deliberations, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case and Justice David Gates declared a mistrial.
