Trial of woman accused of killing her one-time friend begins inside a London, Ont. courtroom

Koree Dockstater pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge on Monday, CTV London's Reta Ismail has the details.

Koree Dockstater appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge in connection with the death of her one-time friend, Shaniqua Henry.

Dockstater was charged in July of 2022, after the body of 27-year-old Henry was discovered off Jubilee Drive at Chippewas of the Thames, just southwest of London.

Henry’s mother, sister and boyfriend were all in attendance today.

“She had really nice smile. I miss that, but I just miss, like, spending time with her and being together and stuff, and especially with our daughter, because her not being there is hard to go through,” explained her boyfriend.

The judge-alone trial began with forensic pathologist Dr. Edward Tweedie, providing opinion evidence and expert testimony in Henry’s cause of death.

Crown attorney Roger Dietrich asked Dr. Tweedie a series of questions regarding Henry’s injuries, and went over a number of photo exhibits.

Dr. Tweedie explained that Henry’s ultimate cause of death was a stab wound to the chest that penetrated through to her heart.

Although toxicology testing was done, and there were ‘some positive results,’ Dr. Tweedie stated that their irrelevant to Henry’s cause of death saying that she was a ‘healthy young woman.’

Dr. Tweedie explained additional evidence of blunt force trauma to Henry’s body, including bruising to her arms and legs as digital images were displayed inside the court room.

Henry’s family says it’s been a difficult two years for their family and having to sit through the court case is tough.

“It’s been really hard on us, and especially her daughter, she’s growing up without her mom,” said Henry’s sister Clarissa.

Dockstater was released from custody last month, but is required to wear an ankle bracelet for monitoring.

Court is set to resume Tuesday.