‘Death was obvious’: Paramedic evidence entered in trial of Toronto man charged with murdering Essex woman and her friend

Welland Superior Courthouse in Welland, Ont., on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

Juliana Pannunzio, 20, and Christine Crooks, 18, of Toronto were both shot and killed on Jan. 19, 2021.

They attended a party at a short-term rental in the Niagara region.

Christopher Lucas, 27, of Toronto has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

His trial started Monday in Welland Superior Court in front of a jury of seven women and seven men.

In an agreed statement of facts, the jurors have learned paramedics responded to the home at 4:45 a.m.

One paramedic went to Pannunzio, who was on a chair in the main living room.

“Death was obvious, and no life-saving efforts were made,” the statement reads.

A second paramedic went into the bedroom where Christine Crooks was found on a bed.

The medics lifted her onto the ground and started to perform CPR.

When firefighters arrived, they brought in a stretcher and intubation machine for the paramedics.

However, after 15 minutes of trying to save Crooks’ life, a doctor at the emergency department gave the paramedics a “termination of resuscitation order” and life-saving measures were stopped.

Crooks was also pronounced dead in the home shortly before 5 a.m.

The Crown has told the jury the call to 911 was made by the party hostess, Heidi Bahler, one hour after the two women were shot.

The trial is expected to continue in Welland Friday.