Tears heard in court as pathologist details Jeremy Cook's quick and brutal death

Jeremy Cook died from massive internal bleeding within seconds of receiving a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, a London, Ont. jury heard Thursday.

Cook was shot to death before dawn on June 14, 2015 after confronting two men about a cell phone he had lost in the back seat of a cab earlier that night, which he tracked down using an online app.

• Sister of teen killed over cell phone recounts last moments she saw Jeremy Cook alive

• Teen seeking lost cell phone bled to death in parking lot, murder trial hears

Mohamed Sail, 26, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Cook's death, while the second suspect in the case, Muhab Sultan, 23, drowned in the Rideau River while trying to escape Ottawa Police in August of 2015.

• MuhabSultan identified in RideauRiver drowning

On Thursday, Sail's murder trial heard from the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Cook's body.

"He was shot twice and had two gunshot wounds," Dr. Edward Tweedietold the courtThursday, noting one bullet struck Cook in the right shoulder above his collar bone, while the other bullet fatally struck him in the chest, ripping through a number of vital blood vessels before exiting through his back.

Soft weeping could be heard in the public gallery as Dr. Tweedie, with the help of Deputy Crown attorney Fraser Ball guided the six men and six women of the jury through a series of macabre autopsy images shown on screens throughout the court.

Family warned about graphic images

Before the images were shown to the court, Ball turned to the public gallery to warn Cook's family about the nature of what they might see.

While some left the room during the graphic testimony, others stayed, wept quietly and comforted each other,as Dr. Tweedietold the court about his observations during the autopsy on Cook's body, which took place the same day he was pronounced dead.

When Dr. Tweediefirst saw Cook'sbody, the 18-year-old carpentry apprenticewas still wearing the blood-soaked clothes he died in when he was wheeled into the mortuary at LHSC'sUniversity Hospital campus, the jury heard.

The first gunshot wound the pathologist examined was the one Cook received in his right shoulder.

"Usually a gunshot wound is nice and circular, this one has almost a figure-eight appearance," Tweedietold jurors as a picture of the gaping wound left in Cook's right shoulder flashed on courtroom screens.

Bullet fragmented

"The wound was relatively shallow and fragments of bullet were visible," he said, noting the bullet fragmented into several pieces before hitting Cook's body.

"In order for a bullet to fragment like that, it would have to pass through something and then pass through the skin," Tweediesaid, noting he was unable to tell based on the evidence what exactly the bullet passed through before it hit Cook.

Prosecutor FraserBall then asked if, based on Tweedie's observations,it was possible the bullet passed through glass.

"Glass would be a typical intermediary target that could cause the bullet to fragment in this fashion before hitting the victim," Tweedie said, noting that while he did not find glass in Cook's wounds or clothes he could not exclude the possibility.

Hollow point shells

"It was a copper jacketed bullet," Tweediesaid, noting thathe also found a light green substance on the bullet, indicating it was a hollow point shell, which are designed to expand upon impact in order to maximize trauma.

Tweedie said that while the shoulder wound was a significant one, which shattered Cook's collar bone, the wound didn't damage Cook's heart, lungs or any major blood vessels.

"The other one was the fatal one," he said, noting the second wound Tweedie examined in Cook's chest was much smaller than the first, indicating it didn't pass through something before it hit Cook's body.

"This bullet passed through the chest," he said, noting that it hit the sternum before penetrating the sack around Cook's heart, causing severe injury to the aeorta and pulmonary arteries, before exiting through Cook's left upper back.

Massive internal bleeding

"At least four major blood vessel disruptions that would have and did result in massive internal haemorrhaging," Tweedie said. "Death would have set in very rapidly after the gunshot wound to the chest."

Tweedie estimates Cook would have had anywhere from five to 10 seconds of consciousness after he was shot in the chest, notingthe autopsy found more than two litres of blood in Cook's chest cavity.

The Crown told the jury in its opening address on Wednesday that witnesses heard a gunshot, then a heard a scream coming from the parking lot where Jeremy Cook died, followed by a second gunshot which was much louder than the first.

Tweedie told the court he could not tell based on his examination which of the wounds Cook received first, but under questioning by the Crown he said it would be very unlikely Cook could have screamed after the shot to the chest.

"Very little blood would be travelling to the brain," Tweedie said."If [Cook]did call out, it would have to be immediately after it was sustained."

Jurors also heard that blood and urine samples taken from Cook's body showed he was drunk when he died.

Tweedie said toxicology results showed there were 142 mg of alcohol per 100 mL of blood in Cook's system at the time of his death, almost twice the legal limit for driving a car.

Cook was also carrying two knives at the time of his death, according to Tweedie.

"He had a jackknife in his pocket, in the closed position," he said. "He also had what I would call a 'throwing knife.'"