‘I completely lost it’: Accused defends shooting Windsor man in 2022

The accused has defended a fatal shooting of a Windsor man in 2022. CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske reports.

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The accused in an ongoing Windsor murder trial said he ‘completely lost it’ leading up to the shooting of a man in 2022.

Daniel Squalls, 24, died on Nov. 28, 2022, after being shot more than six times.

Malique Calloo, now 30, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder; his lawyer has already asked the jury to convict on manslaughter.

“I thought he was gonna pull a gun and that’s when I shot him,” Calloo said Wednesday in Superior court.

‘We hated each other’

Calloo spent the first hour of his evidence giving the jury the background on his troubled – and often petty – relationship with Squalls.

Both men dated the same woman. Both men have a child with her. Calloo says both men cheated on her.

“We hated each other,” Calloo repeatedly told the jury.

In the five years before the shooting, Calloo detailed six “interactions”; including four fights at downtown bars, a fight at a community centre and in one instance Calloo says Squalls tried to vandalize his car with a two-by-four post.

Further, Calloo believes it was Squalls who shot at him in a drive-by shooting in September 2019.

Two weeks later, he alleges Squalls threatened him with a gun and chased him with his car.

None of the violent interactions were ever reported to police.

Calloo chose instead to buy a gun off his father who lives in Toronto.

“I didn’t not want to have a gun on me,” Calloo reflected, “in case I was being shot at and chased” by Squalls.

Calloo testified the first gun was too big “to be concealed” so he “exchanged” the first gun with a second one, also from his father, for a smaller Glock.

“Back then, I had a criminal mindset,” Calloo also told the jury on numerous occasions.

Calloo feared a ‘setup’

The day of the shooting, Calloo had learned his child was being moved to the U.S.

After an unsuccessful attempt to find a lawyer to begin custody paperwork, Calloo got a message through social media that his daughter would be home “in half an hour”.

“I made a last second decision to grab my gun,” Calloo testified, telling them he feared he was “being setup”.

Calloo told the jury he picked up three friends “to back me up” before he arrived at the Hanna Street apartment where Squalls lived with two children and Calloo’s ex-girlfriend.

The men got into an argument; throughout Calloo believed Squalls was armed.

Squalls allegedly said, “I’m the Daddy now” and told Calloo his child was already gone to the U.S.

“That was when I realized he had actually taken my (child) and I was never going to see (them),” Calloo testified. “I completely lost it. I was filled with rage. Anger.”

“It was all a blur to be honest,” Calloo said when his lawyer asked if he knew how many times he pulled the trigger.

“I looked down and I see that there’s nothing in Daniel’s hand and I just knew that I ruined everything,” Calloo concluded.

Cross-examination underway

On cross-examination late Wednesday Calloo repeatedly said that he regrets the decisions he made in the past, specifically never calling police to report any of the violent interactions with Squalls.

And he never reported allegations of physical abuse allegedly committed by Squalls to his girlfriend and to Calloo’s child.

“I didn’t want to be known as a snitch,” Calloo repeatedly replied.

The Crown will continue their cross-examination of Calloo Thursday.