Terry Marriott Jr. badly beaten hours before he was shot to death

Less than a day before Terry Marriott Jr. was shot to death in a Halifax-area home, he was viciously beaten by another man who's facing a second-degree murder charge in a separate killing.

The Halifax jury atJimmy Melvin Jr.'s first-degree murder trial was shown two videos of Steven Skinner sucker punching and beating Marriott in the lobby of Ralph's strip bar in Dartmouth in the wee hours of Feb. 20, 2009.

Skinner fled Canada shortly before he was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 20-year-old Stacey Adams in2011. Venezuelan police arrested Skinner in May 2016.

Skinner fled Canada before charged

On Tuesday, a witness who was with Marriott the night he was beaten testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that he didn't know how the fight started and only knew the man who struck Marriott by thelast name of Skinner.

The witness, John Lively, is seen in the video picking Marriott up off the ground. Hetestified they drank beer andvodka, and smoked cocaine before going to Ralph's that night.

After he was beaten, Marriott went to Lively's home inHarrietsfieldto sleep off his night of partying.

The prosecution's star witness, a career criminal named Derek MacPhee, hastestified he drove Melvin to the home later in the day and that he heard several loud bangs after Melvin went inside. Melvin, the court has heard, had a beef with Marriott.

'I would have never touched him'

MacPheelater woke Lively up and told him Marriott had been shot on the couch. They called 911.

"He waslaying there with a hole in his head," Lively testified.

Lively said MacPhee moved Marriott's head and pulled down the blanket that was covering him.

"I told him to leave him alone," Lively said. "I would have never touched him."

Lively knew Marriott for about 25 years. He said he never knew him to carry a gun and didn't know if he sold cocaine.

Upset and crying

Halifax Regional Police Sgt. Ron Legere was one of the first officers on the scene of Marriott's homicide. Police received a call to the Lively home at about 5:15 p.m. that day.

Legere testified that inside the home officers found Lively and MacPhee, who were both intoxicated, upset and crying.Legere said it was difficult to get straight answers from MacPhee because he was so upset.

"It was out of character for my dealings with Derek MacPhee. Derek MacPhee would always present a tougher exterior when dealing with the police," Legere said.

Obvious signs of death

Legere found Marriott dead, lying on the coach with his left side propped up. He had cuts and swelling on his face, andLegere immediately recognized Marriott from his past dealings with him.

"I did have information from a briefing earlier in the day that Terry Marriott Jr. had suffered an assault the night before and had suffered some facial injuries," Legere said.

Legere also noticed a couple of gunshot wounds on Marriott's face and a significant amount of blood pooling by his left shoulder. He checked Marriott's neck for a pulse.

"There were obvious signs of death," Legere said, adding Marriott's body was cold, stiff and pale, and he wasn't breathing.

Pungent odour in basement

Lively's mother, Sandra Lively, who lived upstairs in the home, testified that earlier that day MacPhee called the house repeatedly looking for her son. She told MacPhee her sonwas sleeping. She said MacPhee then showed up at their house on a four-wheeler and parked it by the door. She did not see MacPhee come inside.

Sandra Lively said she heard voices coming from the basement and then about 15 to 20 minutes later she heard a kerfuffle. And when she looked out her side door she saw about six police officers.

"I asked them what was going on, I tried to go downstairs and they wouldn't allow me."

She described a pungent odour coming from the basement that she had not smelled earlier.

MacPhee has agreed to testify against Melvin in exchange for an immunity deal. He is also in witness protection.

The trial continues Wednesday.