A court appearance lasted just minutes yesterday for the man accused in Halifax’s first murder of the year.
Steven Maurice Colley, 49, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and four weapons-related charges.
The four weapons-related charges are based on a shotgun Colley allegedly had.
Andre Jonathan Edward Slawter, 20, was found dead in a car parked near his home on Brian Street at around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Tywan Kimo Slawter, 35, was also in the vehicle but received very minor injuries.
Hiding his face from cameras, Colley was brought into Dartmouth court yesterday afternoon. He sat stone-faced as the charges were listed and a court date of Feb. 17 was set.
Crown attorney Arthur Theuerkauf said they’ll wait until they have the full report from police before deciding if the first degree murder charge will be downgraded.
And there’s no word on bail yet.
“Any person charged with murder must apply for bail to the Supreme Court. I suspect once they have disclosure they will decide whether or not they’ll make that application,” he said.
If it goes to trial, it could take about a year to get a court date, Theuerkauf added
According to court documents, Colley lives on Caledonia Road, where police followed the suspect vehicle on Wednesday night.
He’s also facing charges of assault on a different matter and was scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 12.
These charges related to an incident on Sept. 20th when two men and a woman were allegedly assaulted.
According to court documents, Andre Slawter was due to appear in court on Feb. 23 and June 17th for charges of assault, threats and court order breaches.
