A preliminary hearing began Monday for a Red Deer man accused of manslaughter.
Gabriel Juma We Agotic was arrested in Calgary and charged in July 2018, more than a year after the death of his alleged victim, Mathiang Chol, 26.
Red Deer RCMP were called to a city apartment in March 2017 after getting a report that Chol was in medical distress.
Police said Chol was taken to hospital with serious injuries. From Red Deer, he was flown to a Calgary hospital and placed on life support. Chol was taken off life support and died in hospital on March 30.
After an autopsy, police investigated his death as a homicide.
Preliminary hearings are held to determine if there is enough evidence to take a case to trial. Evidence presented at a preliminary hearing is covered by a publication ban.
Agotic’s hearing in Red Deer provincial court is set for five days.
An interpreter fluent in Dinka and its dialects, languages spoken mainly in southern Sudan, was present to aid the accused if needed.