Justice was served for Pat Stay in a courtroom heavy with emotion and five weeks of agonizing testimony, a battle rap icon whose life was senselessly taken. On Tuesday, June 18, an all-White jury at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court found that Adam Drake was guilty of murdering Stay by stabbing the 20-year-old to death, closing out a highly publicized trial. It had taken the 12 jurors less than a day to reach their decision, a succinct and resolute moment after weeks of painful recollection, video analysis, and legal sparring.
Pat Stay, then a 36-year-old father of two, was and remains a god in the global battle rap scene, celebrated for his quick wit, magnetic presence, and ability to overtake a room with nothing but a smirk and a bar. That voice was silenced on Sept. 4, 2022, at the Yacht Club Social in Halifax. Though the fatal stabbing was not captured on video, prosecutors used surveillance footage and a methodical process of elimination to build their case against Drake.
Drake, who was initially charged with first-degree murder, had his charge reduced before trial. He did not testify or present a defense, as the jury was not informed of his prior conviction, a life sentence already being served for the 2016 “execution-style” murder of Tyler Keizer. That gruesome detail only emerged after the verdict this week.
The defense challenged the Crown’s theory, saying the footage was too murky and that the attack was not shown. But the jury saw enough. Their verdict brought a measure of justice, not healing, but a threshold of healing.
There was both grief and quiet relief outside the courtroom. Pat’s longtime partner, Malyssa Burns, stepped forward, bravely talking to news cameras in a voice tinged with the anguish of a family that will never be the same.
“It’s the hardest five weeks I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “There’s no closure with a loss like this. But at least we can go forward that his murderer’s in jail.”
Second-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory life sentence. The only question is when Drake will be eligible for parole, something the judge will decide in the coming weeks, between 10 and 25 years.
In the days after the verdict, tributes poured in from the world of battle rap, a global community still coming to terms with losing one of its leading lights. Pat Stay was more than a battler; he was a leader, a father, a mentor, a friend, and a wordsmith whose persona on a stage was monstrous. He left more than rhymes, but he left a legacy.
Now that its guilty verdict has come in, his community breathes a small, grave breath. Justice, finally, but the mic will never be the same without him.
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