Rejected Calgary man raped unconscious victim and beat her to death, court hears

After being rejected by a young woman he'd just met on a C-Train, Curtis Healy became so enraged he beat the 31-year-old unconscious, dragged her to a secluded backyard, raped her and then used a rock to "finish her off," he told police after his arrest.

This is the evidence that prosecutor Carla MacPhail told jurors they can expect to hear during Healy's three-week, first-degree murder trial.

Healy is accused of murdering Dawns Echoes Baptiste in February 2015.

After his arrest, he confessed to the killing, telling the detective he became angry with Baptiste after she told him to "get the f--k away" from her.

Jurors were told they will hear evidence later in the trial that Healy threw Baptiste to the ground, stomped on her, dragged her to a nearby backyard and then raped her while she was unconscious and face down.

Afterward, he told the officer he got a rock and hit her on the head "to finish her off," MacPhail said in her opening statement to the jury Monday morning.

On Feb. 10, 2015, Dawns Baptiste had been hanging out with her brother Alex in Calgary.

When he left her for the night, Baptiste was taking the C-Train to stay with a friend near Whitehorn in northeast Calgary.

Baptiste and Healy met on the train that night, according to the prosecution. They spent a few hours together on trains and at C-Train stations. At the Whitehorn station, Baptiste and Healy left together on foot but she "never made it to her destination."

DNA evidence

Three days later, her body wasfound by a stranger in a backyard. Baptiste was face down, her pants and underwear had been pulled down.

She had injuries on her hand, face, legs and "terrible injuries" to her head, said MacPhailwho is prosecuting the case alongside Samantha Manning.

A large rock near Baptiste's body had her blood and hair on it, DNA testing would later reveal.

When police arrested Healy, he had blood on his shoes that would come back as a DNA match to Baptiste.

Two semen samples taken from Baptiste's body and clothing came back as a DNA match to Healy.

Alex Baptiste, the victim's brother, was the Crown's first witness. He and his sister are from Alberta's Samson Cree Nation.

Alex was the last family member to see his sister alive. He says that when he found out Baptiste was killed in the hours after he left her, "I didn't want to believe it."

The family has waited three years for this trial.

"It was pretty hard because we wanted to finally put our sister to rest," saidBaptiste in the lobby of the courthouse after he finished testifying.

Being in the same courtroom as the man who is accused of killing his sister caused "so much hurt."

Baptistewants his sister remembered as a "caring and loving mother" who was "always there for everyone."

Healy's lawyers Shamsher Kothari and Curtis Mennie have not yet had the chance to present a defence.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Charlene Anderson is presiding over the trial.

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