Ex-girlfriend reluctantly testifies in ‘Good Samaritan’ murder trial

A now 20-year-old woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, took the stand Monday as a reluctant Crown witness in an ongoing murder trial.

A now 20-year-old woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban because she was a minor at the time of the incident, took the stand Monday as a reluctant Crown witness in the ongoing murder trial of her former boyfriend.

Brandon Aaron, 23, is accused of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of David Goddard, a man police described as a Good Samaritan who intervened when he saw Aaron allegedly assaulting the young woman on Holland Street West in Bradford around 4 a.m. September 4, 2022.

The witness described where she had been with Aaron that night, including a restaurant and the LCBO where Aaron was seen on surveillance video picking up a bottle of alcohol.

The woman told the court she and Aaron were drunk when she realized her cell phone was missing, setting off a chain of events that resulted in violence and a man’s death.

She testified being upset and mad with Aaron, accusing him of losing her phone that night. The young woman testified she made her way to a nearby gas station to borrow a flashlight to continue her search for the phone.

The young woman said she became increasingly frustrated with Aaron, whom she said was slurring his words and stumbling around asking her repeatedly to abandon the search for her phone.

She said she defiantly sat in the road prompting Aaron to move her. The woman testifies she hit Aaron with the swinging flashlight.

The witness said she could not remember how or why she was not holding the flashlight after that or how it ended up on the ground. The court heard the flashlight was found in several pieces near where Goodard died.

Eventually the witness said she gave up on the search for her missing phone and while trying to lift herself up - injured her arm.

It is at that point the woman said she saw a stranger out of the corner of her eye. She remembered being visibly upset and crying however she testified she was not sure why the man approached her and crossed the street that night.

She testified asking the man to call her mother’s phone. The man, she said, stopped dialing the number and instead started carrying her toward her mother’s nearby home.

Seconds later she said Aaron and the man got into a fight after the man angrily said something to her boyfriend. She recalled seeing the man on top of Aaron.

She told the court she went to a nearby apartment building for help.

“I was crying. I was upset; I was in pain. I was cold,” she testified. “I was not thinking of anything other than getting help for my arm.” She told the court she was taken to hospital and then to the police station in Bradford by her mother later that morning.

The witness said she could not recall how she got scrapes on her hip. She said she was distressed, intoxicated and in such excruciating pain she could not remember key details of the evening and initially lied to police when giving her statement.

She said she did not have the time to properly process what had happened that night.

The court heard last week an Instagram account belonging to Aaron appeared to send messages to the young woman hours after the stabbing. Messages appeared to explain what happened that night. The witness’ mother testified she discovered the messages on her phone and sent them to police.

The young woman admitted she continued speaking with Aaron for months following his arrest and sent him mail that included photos.

The six-week trial, now midway through the proceedings, is scheduled to resume Tuesday.

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