The Crown opened its case Monday against a man who was driving a vehicle that hit, ran over, and killed former child actor Gabriel Del Castillo Mullally on the Danforth early on Feb. 5, 2023.
There is no dispute that Ryan Andrews, 26, was behind the wheel of the Subaru Outback when it left the road and went onto the sidewalk and struck Del Castillo Mullally, 25, as he was leaving a nearby after-hours bar called the Rusty Nail.
The main issues at the trial will be whether Andrews intended to strike Del Castillo Mullally and if the killing was planned and deliberate.
On Monday, Andrews pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder but guilty to manslaughter.
Andrews鈥檚 position is that while he was 鈥渄runk and angry鈥 that evening, he was only trying to scare someone after being punched in the face and robbed of his phone 鈥 what鈥檚 called a provocation defence.
He also maintains he did not mean to run over Del Castillo Mullally and therefore did not have the intention to commit murder, defence lawyers Sherif Foda and Zaire Puil will argue.
However, the Crown rejected his plea, so Andrews is standing trial for first-degree murder, which, if convicted, could put him behind bars for a minimum of 25 years.
In the Crown鈥檚 opening statement, prosecutor Andrew Gibbons said Del Castillo Mullally and his companions were already at the Rusty Nail when Andrews arrived at the bar just before 3 a.m. After about a half hour, Andrews left and got into the Subaru he鈥檇 parked nearby.
Surveillance video captured Andrews driving back and forth between the bar鈥檚 rear and front doors. He also left the vehicle to bang on the doors.
鈥淚 ask you to pay attention to his behaviour and his body language, he appears to be screaming, he appears to be stabbing at the (back) door repeatedly with a knife,鈥 said Gibbons, whose co-counsel is Karolina Visic.
Just before 4 a.m., Del Castillo Mullally exited the bar with friends, including Jake Hopkins. Del Castillo Mullally and Andrews got into a heated exchange, and Hopkins is expected to testify that when he came to his friend鈥檚 side, he punched Andrews in the face.
Twice, Andrews drove the Subaru onto the sidewalk, towards the group of people, the first time not striking any of them. The second time, the vehicle hit Del Castillo Mullally as he walked beside Hopkins, who jumped out of the way.
After Del Castillo Mullally fell to the ground, 鈥淎ndrews kept driving and ran him over as he returned to the roadway. Mr. Del Castillo Mullally went under both the front and rear wheels of the SUV,鈥 Gibbons said, explaining that jurors will see surveillance footage of the carnage.
Puil, who represents Andrews with Foda, gave an overview of Andrews鈥檚 troubled upbringing, before turning to the night in question. Andrews had consumed cocaine and booze when he got into an argument in the bar with several people, including Del Castillo Mullally, who was six-foot and 170 pounds.
Del Castillo Mullally 鈥渇orcibly took Mr. Andrews鈥檚 phone from him,鈥 the defence lawyer said. One of his friends indicated he had a gun. They told Andrews to leave. Which he did, 鈥渄runk, high and humiliated,鈥 said Puil. Andrews decided to confront Del Castillo Mullally and went to grab a knife from the car. When he couldn鈥檛 get back into the Rusty Nail, he waited outside, she said.
When Del Castillo Mullally emerged, he kicked Andrews 鈥渓ike a stray dog,鈥 while Hopkins threw a lunging hook that landed on his chin. However, despite being armed, Andrews didn鈥檛 try to use the knife 鈥渂ecause he didn鈥檛 want to kill him,鈥 Puil said, continuing that he was 鈥渁ngry, embarrassed and humiliated.鈥
Andrews plans to testify at trial and will say that when he drove the Subaru onto the sidewalk, he was aiming to 鈥渟care鈥 Hopkins, Puil said. When he maneuvered the car back onto the sidewalk a second time, still trying to scare Hopkins, he accidentally struck Del Castillo Mullally, she said. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 mean to kill anyone that night or even run anyone over.鈥
Andrews fled the scene and was arrested two days later, after initially resisting arrest and giving a fake name to police.
As a child actor, Gabriel starred in the short 鈥淭ati鈥 and the feature-length coming-of-age film 鈥淎my George,鈥 which premiered at the 色色啦 International Film Festival in 2011.
His parents are screenwriter Guy Mullally and 鈥淪treet Legal鈥 actress Maria del Mar.
