Witness recounts Zillmere park brawl that led to Girum Mekonnen’s fatal stabbing

A father has described the moment all hell broke loose as he watched two gangs in a fight to the death at a suburban park.

Emergency services at O’Callaghan Park in Zillmere on the afternoon Girum Mekonnen was fatally stabbed.

A father was intending to have a quiet hitout with his son at their local baseball field when all hell broke loose nearby as he watched two “gangs” in a fight to the death, a court heard.

Girum Mekonnen, 19, was allegedly murdered in O’Callaghan Park in Zillmere in Brisbane’s north around 5.30pm on September 13, 2020. A further 10 people were hospitalised that night, some were severely injured with multiple horrific injuries.

A dozen defendants are on trial in a judge-only proceeding in Brisbane Supreme Court for 11 charges each, including murder. All have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Girum Mekonnen was stabbed to death in a Zillmere park.

Witness David Briggs went to the baseball field – adjacent to the demountable building and grassed area where the melee occurred – at O’Callaghan Park that afternoon intending to pitch to his son in a one-on-one practice session.

Upon arrival, he had seen a group of “African looking” people sitting on the veranda of the demountable building.

“They seemed to have all had some drinks and were in a state of relaxation and were singing and laughing,” he testified on Friday.

Mr Briggs was collecting the baseballs when he saw another group approach.

“I did see baseball bats … at least half a dozen had baseball bats … I don’t know if they all had baseball bats, but they all had something,” he told the court.

Moments later, a fight broke out.

“There was a lot of yelling and screaming,” he said.

“They [the original group] seemed surprised, as far as they weren’t prepared to be attacked in that manner.”

Mr Briggs called triple-0 at 5.34pm, and again at 5.43pm. A recording of his initial call was played in the trial on Friday.

“There’s two gangs of about 10 guys at each other with baseball bats over here. One [gang] of them was sitting down drinking beer and carrying on, then another gang of around 10 or 12 guys came around and started hitting each other with baseball bats,” he told the operator.

Witness David Briggs.

Mr Briggs said after the initial all-in melee, he saw the fight “splinter” into multiple smaller groups and spread out from the demountable, but he said he could see they were still fighting and still using baseball bats.

Afterwards, he heard someone yell “that’s enough, stop” and he saw one victim on the ground not moving and being comforted by two others, as three attackers ran away.

Mr Briggs testified that he could not remember hearing or seeing any kind of conversation or interaction between the groups before the violence erupted.

The court also heard a phone call between defendant Juma Makuol and a woman on November 3, 2020, during which Mr Makuol briefly recounted the day of the attack.

Mr Makuol told the woman that when “the boys picked me up” from the Ipswich area he was of the belief that they were going down to the Gold Coast to celebrate someone’s birthday.

“But the GC is the other way?” the woman questioned over the phone.

“I know, I know. But they just changed their minds, they were like ‘oh we’re going to Zillmere now, we found out where these boys are’ all of a sudden,” Mr Makuol explained.

“Next thing I know I’m there [O’Callaghan Park] and I had no choice but to be a part of it, but I wasn’t really doing nothing.”

In a separate exchange during the call, the pair discuss the fallout.

“It’s just f***ed up with the charges,” Mr Makuol said.

“Yeah,” the woman replied.

“I heard everyone is talking about them like crazy,” Mr Makuol said.

“Yeah.”

Twelve people are charged with Girum Mekonnen’s murder.

A 90-minute police interview was also shown during the trial on Friday, conducted four days after the incident. It was prompted by the defendant Ben Abio going to a police station wanting to speak to detectives.

The court heard that Mr Abio became a person of interest after mobile phone tower location data was analysed.

However, Mr Abio went to police with photos on his phone which he claimed showed he was nowhere near Zillmere on the day in question, and voluntarily participated in the interview.

In the interview footage, Mr Abio told detectives he started the day in Bellbird Park, then drove to Orion Springfield Central shopping centre with a friend around 12.30pm, then went to Goodna with the same friend, and was back at home in Bellbird Park around 6pm.

The 12 accused on trial are Alex Edward Deng, 22, Ben Abio, 23, Majok Riel Majok, 23, Yohana Wal Wal, 23, Malat Akoi Makuach, 25, Juma Makuol Deng Makuol, 27, Chan Kuchmol Kon, 28, Joseph Lokolong, 28, Kresto Wal Wal, 28, Abraham Ajang Yaak, 30, Gabreal Wal Wal, 31, and Santo Wal, 36.

Each defendant has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, nine counts of malicious acts with intent, and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company.

The trial continues on Monday.