A TEENAGER who filmed himself holding a pistol in the backseat of a car about an hour before the two men in the front are accused of murdering 18-year-old Ekampreet Singh Sahni at Bar Beach has pleaded guilty to firearm offences.
Ekampreet was gunned down in the car park on Memorial Drive about 11.40pm on April 23 last year.
Police have said a group of people were fighting in the car park when a white SUV drove up, a man armed with a firearm got out, fired, and fled in the vehicle.
Accused gunman Decklen Deaves-Thornton, 22, and alleged getaway driver Jack Kennedy, 25, have both been charged with murder.
They have not entered any pleas and will next appear in court on July 15.
Ja'Rell Warren De Jong, now 19, in August last year became the third person to be charged in relation to the shooting after investigators seized and analysed a number of mobile phones.
De Jong had been captured in four mobile phone videos holding either a silver revolver or a 30-30 calibre rifle in the days and hours leading up to the shooting at Bar Beach.
In one video filmed on April 15, 2025, De Jong is holding a silver revolver before the camera flips around to show Kennedy walking into the room and then pans over to a rifle lying on the bed.
In another video filmed the next day, De Jong is holding the 30-30 calibre rifle that was on the bed, a still frame showing distinctive yellow tape on the handle.
Another video taken by De Jong shows him in the back seat of a stolen Volvo at 10.45pm on April 23 - about an hour before emergency services were called to the Bar Beach car park.
De Jong is holding a pistol and the video shows Deaves-Thornton in the front passenger seat and Kennedy driving.
All three men are wearing gloves, according to an agreed statement of facts made public for the first time on Wednesday.
Police say a bright yellow colour visible between the front passenger seat and centre console is the 30-30 calibre rifle.
About an hour later, a group of people were fighting in the Bar Beach car park when police say the Volvo pulled up and Deaves-Thornton got with a rifle.
Deaves-Thornton is accused of using the rifle to jab Ekampreet in the chest before shooting him once.
He died at the scene, while those in the car fled and quickly torched the Volvo at Tingira Heights.
Deaves-Thornton and Kennedy are both charged with murder and destroying property in company by fire.
Kennedy will also face a number of firearm offences relating to the days before Ekampreet was killed and stemming from a raid at a unit in Honeysuckle a few weeks later.
He is also charged with using an offensive weapon with intent to intimidate after police allege he also got out of the car before the shooting.
He was initially charged with seven offences, including not disclosing the identities of the passenger and driver of the Volvo.
But on Wednesday, De Jong pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of an unauthorised pistol and possession of an unauthorised firearm after prosecutors withdrew the other charges.
He remains on bail and will be sentenced in Newcastle Local Court in August.
