Elmsdale man convicted of lesser charge in shooting death of Tyler Algee

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury has convicted an Elmsdale man of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Tyler Algee two years ago in a Dartmouth park.

Algee, 22, was shot on May 12, 2021, the day after he and Justin Ronald Adams Clarke had a fight outside Alderney Landing.

Adams Clarke had been charged with first-degree murder, but the jury opted for the lesser sentence after a day and a half of deliberations at the Dartmouth courthouse.

Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. The judge will decide what the minimum time before Adams Clarke can apply for parole will be at a sentencing hearing June 21.

Lawyers had presented their closing arguments in the case Wednesday, with jurors receiving their instructions from the judge before being sequestered for the evening. Their deliberations started Thursday morning.

Adams Clarke testified that he shot Algee with a sawed-off shotgun, but said it was in self-defence after Algee threatened to fight him again.

The defence said the two men got into a fight the previous night when Algee walked by with two other people and then started talking at him. It didn’t last long, then they crossed paths again the next day, court was told.

Adams Clarke testified he was at Ferry Terminal Park when Algee came around a corner, spotted him and began to confront him. He said he pulled out the shotgun and fired when Algee wouldn’t back down.

The Crown said Adams Clarke started the fight the first night, when he called Algee by the wrong name after he, his girlfriend and friend passed by. He said Algee had run off with Adams Clark’s sweater that night, and the shooting the next day was a result of Adams Clark wanting vengeance for having the sweater stolen and being embarrassed in the fight.