Friends and family of Connor Whitehead were emotional in the public gallery as evidence of the 16-year-old's final moments was covered in court.
Daniel Sparks and Joshua Smith have pleaded not guilty to murdering the teenager, and are on trial at the High Court at Christchurch.
Connor Whitehead was fatally shot while attending a birthday party that had spiralled out of control in November 2021.
"His killing was shocking, senseless. It should never have happened," said Smith's lawyer Daniel Kirby.
Today a witness told the court that she comforted Connor in his last moments, telling him everything was going to be okay.
"I didn't know he'd been shot at this stage and I was holding onto him rubbing his back and that everything was going to be okay," Korin Steedman said.
But it wasn't. Sparks and Smith are on trial charged with Connor's murder.
The two men were answering a call of distress from a partygoer who had become overrun with gatecrashers, allegedly including gang members.
Sparks and Smith arrived at the Casebrook address, each armed with a gun.
"One of the central issues during this trial will be who fired the fatal shot, the Crown suggests this was most likely Smith with Mr Sparks firing the shot into the air," Crown prosecutor Aaron Harvey said.
Connor was shot in the chest, within close range.
"Mr Smith accepts it was his fault, he accepts he's responsible for this young boy's death," Kirby said.
Smith's lawyer said he is guilty of manslaughter, not murder.
Sparks' defence is he's not guilty of murder, he fired a gun into the air to scatter the crowd so he and Smith could leave the area.
"Mr Sparks did not deliver the fatal shot and when he travelled to Heaphy Place with Mr Smith he had no idea things would unfold the way that they did," Sparks' lawyer Nicola Pointer said.
Throughout the three-week trial, 54 witnesses are expected to be called. The court has heard from Connor's father James Whitehead that the pair were close and communicated regularly. That night was no different.
"I went to the movies with a friend and left home around 7:30. Connor was still at home and I said, 'Have fun I love you', he said, 'I love you', that was the last time I saw Connor," he said.
"That was the last time I saw Connor and the last words I spoke to him."
The Crown says both men are guilty, one as party to murder. That will be for the jury to decide.
