Jaskaran Kang murder case: DNA on knife sheath, court told
A knife sheath stained with the blood of a Dudley shopkeeper who was stabbed to death contained the DNA of a teenager on trial for his murder, a court heard.
Dontay Ellis is one of five people charged with killing 24-year-old Jaskaran Kang after allegedly stealing his haul of cannabis from the flat above a convenience store in Brierley Hill, which the victim ran with his brother.
The knife sheath, along with gloves also containing DNA from both Ellis and the victim, and a trainer said to belong to Ellis that was stained with Mr Kang’s blood were later found at an address in Shadwell Drive, Dudley, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Ellis, of Central Drive, Lower Gornal, is alleged to have been part of a masked gang armed with Zombie-style knives, who smashed in the front door of the victim’s Stourbridge Road flat in the early hours of January 6 last year demanding drugs.
Mr Kang, who sold cannabis from the premises, was fatally stabbed and his flatmate forced at knifepoint to hand over a box of the Class B drug which was stashed in the loft.
Forensic scientist Ben Lanham told the jury that the knife sheath, gloves and trainer contained a mixed profile but that DNA from 19-year-old Ellis and Mr Kang featured most prominently.
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He also gave evidence on his examination of the scene, describing how the the carpet in the communal area outside the victim’s flat was “saturated” in his blood.
The gang are said to have escaped in a Ford Focus later found burnt out near the Crooked House pub in Dudley.
In cross-examination by Mr Timothy Raggatt, QC, defending Ellis, Mr Lanham agreed that only a small amount of Ellis’s DNA had been found on the knife sheath but he added that it was sufficient to give a “well-developed” profile.
Mr Lanham conceded that there were numerous possible explanations as to how the DNA got there.
With Ellis in the dock are Michael Cunningham, 18, of Coalway Road, Wolverhampton; Joshua Campbell, 18, of King Edmund Street, Dudley; and James Peake, 18, of Southgate Way, Dudley. All four plead not guilty to murder.
Tyrone Johnson, 21, of Malthouse Drive, Dudley, denies manslaughter.
The judge yesterday ruled there was no case to answer against Reggie Salmon, 21, of Stourbridge Road, Dudley, who had denied charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.
Cunningham and Peake have admitted conspiracy to rob but the other three defendants deny the same charge, although Ellis has confessed to being at the scene.
The case continues.
