How Devastating It Is

"People don't know how devastating it is until you go through it. It's unbelievable."
"He couldn't do anything wrong; great kid."
"When we were younger, it was always you went out and you had a fist fight and whatever and it was all over. Now it's always guns and knives and it's just not right."
Daniel O'Grady, grieving grandson Sheldon O'Grady's death

 On Friday Sheldon O'Grady went to the dance club at 177 Promenade du Portage in Gatineau from his home in Ottawa. Accompanied by some friends out to enjoy an evening together. A brawl ensued as the 18 year old confronted another young man slightly younger, still 18, Mourad Louati.  Security personnel at the bar, Club Addiction, asked the two to step outside.

"They were not forced out -- they were asked to come outside", explained club owner Paul Martineau. "It seemed to be resolving itself. Then more people gathered around and it fuelled the fire. It ended up as a fight out in the street."  And it appeared that security from the bar assisted in seeing that the conflict concluded, the antagonists walking away.

Sheldon O'Grady reentered the bar to retrieve his jacket, and then he left.  A bouncer noticed some time later the prone form of Sheldon O'Grady lying in a pool of blood on the wet, snowy sidewalk.  And police were called. As a result the bar was placed in lockdown so police could interview the 150 people remaining there at 1:00 a.m.

Witnesses have not yet come forward if indeed there are any who saw what occurred after Sheldon O'Grady left the bar for the last time, without any of his friends present with him.  "It burned me inside. It really burned me. Of all people that this could happen to, why did this have to be him? It's still really hard to believe. It's unexpected that something like this could happen to someone so good", one of his friends mourned.

An autopsy has been set for Monday which will clarify what kind of weapon was used in the stabbing death; five separate stab wounds were initially identified.  No knife or any other sharp, penetrating object has yet been found.  The young man who was arrested and charged, Mourad Louati, pleaded not guilty to the charge laid against him. He remains in custody until a bail hearing.

The owner of the club has proffered his  "deepest sympathies" to the family of the dead young man. "They're 18 years old -- what kind of issues can you have to start stabbing someone?  I'm a little emotionally disturbed by this, too."  Mourad Louati, arrested on a charge of second-degree murder has asked for trial by judge and jury.

His lawyer has had previous purely professional dealings with the family.  Mourad Louati's older brother, as it happens, is a convicted killer, a drug dealer, and a sex offender.