"I HAVE CHOSEN TO PAINT THE LIFE OF MY PEOPLE AS I KNOW AND FEEL IT--PASSIONATELY AND DISPASSIONATELY. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE ARTIST IDENTIFY WITH THE SELF-RELIANCE,HOPE AND COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE ABOUT HIM,FOR ART MUST ALWAYS GO WHERE ENERGY IS."
--ROMARE BEARDON

Man fatally stabbed in neck wanted custody of girl, court told 

By Sam Pazzano

Ludlow Jermaine Gillespie, 25, was fatally stabbed in the neck while driving in May 2010.

TORONTO - Marjorie Gillespie wore an anguished expression in court Monday as she recalled the last time she saw her son and his daughter, hours before he was fatally stabbed.
The mother, dabbing away tears, also described a profanity-laced exchange between her son Ludlow Jermaine Gillespie and Melissa Lewis two months before Lewis allegedly stabbed him in the neck while he was driving.
Lewis, 25, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the May 29, 2010, death of 25-year-old Gillespie. Their six-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car with her mother while Lewis’ father, David Winn, sat in the front passenger seat.
“Gillespie and Lewis were shouting mean and horrible words while Winn, texting in the front passenger seat,” tried to defuse the volatile situation as the child cried, Crown attorney Louise Collins said.
Lewis reached into her purse, pulled out a kitchen knife and plunged it into Gillespie’s neck, Collins said.
He screamed, “She stabbed me!” while his daughter wailed, court heard. The Neon mounted the curb on Windermere Ave. and the slightly built Gillespie staggered out of the car, gasping “Why?” before collapsing on the ground and bleeding to death.
In her opening to the jury, Collins described Gillespie as a “great father” who wanted to obtain custody of his daughter — whose name is covered by a publication ban — from Lewis.
Gillespie was committed to his daughter but he didn’t want a relationship with the “possessive” Lewis, court heard. He was already dating another woman and had another daughter by another woman.
His mother testified that her son asked Lewis for custody but was rejected. She said he was concerned that his daughter wasn’t enrolled in school.
Marjorie Gillespie recalled a volatile verbal battle between her son and Lewis that prompted a 911 call in the early months of 2010. When Toronto Police showed up, the pair had already bolted, court heard.
Gillespie, who had a few brushes with the law, had been a shooting victim in April 2009 and spent six weeks in hospital and several months convalescing at his mother’s home, court heard.
The trial continues Tuesday.