In a Toronto courtroom Thursday, people in the gallery could hear a secret recorded audio message which was played at a murder trial of a Toronto man killed in 2023.
The undercover officer who testified — known as TJ, in order to protect the officer’s identity — can be heard discussing how she became involved in the investigation of Brianna Warner, who was a person of interest in the killing of Jai Parker-Ford at the time.
Parker-Ford was fatally shot outside his 14th floor apartment on Lawrence Avenue East near Orton Park Road on Dec. 16, 2022, around 4:30 a.m. and died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Only those involved in the proceedings, including lawyers, the judge, the jury and court staff, could see the undercover officer because a large screen divided the courtroom in half.
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TJ took to the stands to explain her undercover operations on Feb. 20, 2023 when she got a call from Toronto police. She was asked to do a “deployment” and meet with Warner.
“I was to build rapport. To basically try to get some social media and some contact information. I could get to know her and she could get to know me well,” TJ testified.
She said Warner only knew her by her alias TJ, which she told the 18-year-old stood for Taniesha Jean.
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In that time, she learned Warner sold things online and they talked about boys, nails, hair and general girl chit chat.
TJ said she learned Toronto police got authorization from a judge for her to use a secret recording device— also known as a wire — so she could record conversations with Warner.
TJ said she next met with Warner on April 3, 2023 and then April 6, 2023. Both times she was wearing a wire.
On April 6th, TJ said she was driving Warner and her mother, back to the family’s Scarborough home and testified that Warner and her mother got into an argument.
An audio recording of the argument was played in court.
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In the audio recording, Warner can be heard telling her mother to shut up before saying, “Remember when you asked me who shot that guy in the head? I did that. I have anger issues, so leave me the f- alone.”
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TJ told assistant Crown attorney Rob Fried the voices on the recording are Warner and her mother.
TJ also said to Fried that she and Warner were developing a friendship and at no point did she think that Warner knew about her status as a police officer.
On April 7th, again while wearing a wire, TJ spoke about what she said to her mother in the car.
The audio recording was again played in court.
In this recording, TJ can be heard speaking to Warner, and asking her about the argument in the car.
“Do you know what I’m going to ask about? What was that about?” TJ can be heard saying.
Warner can be heard saying her mother was talking to her like an “idiot” before she explains what she meant in the car.
“I’ll show you what I’m talk about. He didn’t die right away. He was brain dead. When I shot him, it was so cool. When I shot him, it went right through. I seen the hole. I ran away,” TJ can be heard saying.
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Warner tells TJ she was still in the area when police got there and ran by houses, running all the way home.
TJ is heard swearing and asks if it happened nearby. “No, no, Orton Park,” Warner replied.
“Basically, he was very unresponsive. His eyes were wide open. He was just bleeding out. He looked dead so I’m like he must be dead and they’re like he’s in stable condition. He’s on life support. He’s alive and he’s breathing but he’s dead,” Warner told TJ, laughing.
“He died on the 18th. I did it on the 16th,” Warner can be heard telling TJ. When TJ asks who the guy, she can be heard telling TJ they had sex when she was 12.
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“So I had the chance. Why not get it done?” Warner told TJ before saying the name, “Jai Parker-Ford.”
TJ responds, “Jai Parker?” before Warner agrees “yeah.”
Warner told TJ her mother saw her leaving the night of the shooting and later asked her about it.
“It was funny because she asked me, I left that night, she seen me leaving that night and then she asked me in the morning, ‘Do you know who did that?’ I’m like ‘I don’t know’,” Warner explained to TJ, laughing.
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Warner then shows TJ articles and videos about the shootings from the news on her phone and tells her it happened on Dec. 16th. TJ asked her where she got the gun. Warner replies, “her ex.” She also said she did it alone.
Warner also tells TJ in the recording that she wrote a rap about the shooting which she called “Brain Dead.” “You’re going to have to show me. Can you perform it for me?” TJ is heard asking.
The undercover officer can then be heard reading out the lyrics. “A pretty sight but I’ll drain the blood straight outta you,” TJ says, reading from the lyrics. “Your friend is dead … Moving like y’all the one unresponsible and brain dead,” she continues.
The rap sheet containing the lyrics was shown at the trial Thursday.
The audio recording involving the conversation between TJ and Warner has been sealed to protect the undercover officer’s identify.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Katie Scott asked TJ about her experience as an undercover officer. “There were three undercovers available for this project, and you were the least experienced of the three?” Scott queried. TJ agreed.
Scott then asked her about some of the objectives she was tasked with but didn’t find out. “One of the objectives was to find out what floor the shooting was on?”
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“No, I didn’t find that out,” TJ replied.
Scott also pointed out TJ failed to ascertain how Warner left the building or what route she took home.
Scott said that all TJ learned was that Warner went from house to house, pointing out that Warner’s home was up to 600 houses away and included walking through a large ravine.
“You didn’t find out where the gloves or the gun went?” said Scott. “You didn’t ask what Jai Parker-Ford was wearing? You didn’t find out what type of gun was used?”
“No, I did not,” TJ replied.
“Those are all of my questions,” Scott said.
Warner has pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.
