Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering for readers.
The trial of a Newmarket, Ont. woman accused of murder following the stabbing of her on-again, off-again boyfriend in July 2024 got underway Monday morning.
McKenzie Gill, 32, walked into the Newmarket courthouse greeted by loved ones and supporters of Blake Bibby, who held signs and shouted, “Justice for Blake.”
Bibby, 36, was found dead on July 14, 2024, inside his Millard Ave. apartment at about 10:30 p.m. His family and friends said Bibby was a victim of intimate partner violence and murder.
“Abuse can go both ways, both directions,” said his brother Mitchell Bibby.
“There is no gender to it. We just need to have retraining for the police, so they realize that it is not always the bigger person, not always the stronger person which is generally the male,” Bibby said.
The Bibby family was joined by advocates for men affected by intimate partner violence, including the Canadian Centre for Men and Families in York Region.
“We know that from Statistics Canada data that half of the victims of intimate partner violence are male, and we need to have resources for them,” said executive director Bijan Rafii.
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Gill has argued she acted in self-defence and remains out on bail with a GPS ankle monitor.
She is represented by Toronto defence lawyer Sherif Foda.
The couple had a tumultuous relationship marred by allegations of domestic violence and charges against both Bibby and Gill, according to court records obtained by CTV News.
Bibby had previously been ordered by a Toronto court not to communicate with or be anywhere near Gill.
He was last charged with assault two months prior to his death.
Gill was charged with assaulting Bibby a year earlier, in 2023. Those charged were later dropped.
Bibby’s mother took the witness stand as the Crown’s first witness. She faced questions from the defence about her son’s criminal record that included acts of violence with partners.
The trial is scheduled for two weeks before Justice Vanessa Christie.
