Attempted murder charge dropped against Kurralta Park shooting accused Malise Schalk and Jaidan Thorpe

A duo’s most serious charge has been withdrawn after a teenager was allegedly shot in the stomach for refusing to eat MDMA in a drug deal gone wrong.

A duo have had their attempted murder dropped in court after they were accused of shooting a man during an alleged drug deal “gone wrong”.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, the court heard prosecution were withdrawing the attempted murder charge against Malise Rachel Schalk, 33, and Jaidan Khan Thorpe, 26.

The court heard they would be proceeding with charges of endangering life and committing theft using force at a block of units in Kurralta Park in January.

During Ms Schalk’s unsuccessful home detention bail bid last month, her lawyer, Adam Gaite said there was “insufficient evidence” to convict her on the attempted murder charge.

“The prosecution are going to have an insurmountable difficulty in proving that she was there, in a joint enterprise intending to kill,” he said.

Police at the scene of the shooting in Kurralta Park in January.

“She might be a fool for having around certain people but that’s a far cry from being involved in an attempted murder.”

Mr Gaite said the victim had given a statement to police about the incident and “the only thing” the victim had said about Ms Schalk was that she had unplugged and taken a phone after he was shot.

“At its highest, she stood in the living area watching and didn’t say anything at all. There’s no evidence of her encouraging the activities that unfolded,” Mr Gaite said.

He said his client “didn’t know” there was some sort of a disagreement “apparently occurring between these two men”.

Malise Schalk had her attempted murder charge withdrawn in court. Picture: Instagram

The charge was also withdrawn against Jaidan Thorpe Picture: Facebook

Magistrate Karim Soetratma said his reading of the facts of charge filed with the court included that a man, alleged to Mr Thorpe, had demanded money and valuables from the 19-year-old alleged victim, before pulling out a gun and crushing up MDMA which he then “tells the victim to eat it or get shot”.

“The victim doesn’t eat it, he tasers the man but the man shoots him in the stomach,” Mr Soetratma said.

Tracey Nelson, prosecuting, opposed Ms Schalk’s release on bail in any form given the seriousness of the offending, which she said involved a drug deal “gone wrong”.

“This was serious offending against the victim with a firearm … he was shot in the abdomen and he was also assaulted to the head by, we allege, the butt of that firearm,” she said.

On Monday, the court heard Ms Schalk, of Taperoo, would be arguing she had no case to answer on the endangering life charge, while counsel for Mr Thorpe, of Prospect, asked for further time to take instructions.

Magistrate Simon Smart adjourned the duo’s charge until next month.