Nova ScotiaA Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice set Adam Drake’s parole ineligibility for the second-degree murder of Dartmouth battle rapper Pat Stay at 17 years. That’s how long Drake must serve before he can begin applying for parole.Judge describes the 2022 murder as ‘inexplicable, needless, senseless and gratuitous’Blair Rhodes · CBC News · Posted: Oct 24, 2025 4:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesAdam Drake must serve at least 17 years in prison in the killing of Pat Stay. (CBC)Adam Drake must serve a minimum of 17 years in prison before he can begin applying for parole for the murder of Dartmouth battle rapper Pat Stay.Drake, 34, fatally stabbed Stay in a downtown Halifax bar in September 2022. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder this June. On Friday, Justice Scott Norton of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court set Drake’s parole ineligibility. The Crown had asked for a minimum of 20 to 23 years while Drake’s lawyer, Michael Lacy, suggested 13 to 15 years.Neither Lacy nor Drake appeared in court in person. Both were on video monitors in the Halifax courtroom.In arguing for a harsher sentence, Crown prosecutor Carla Ball cited Drake’s history of violence.“Mr. Drake is a dangerous man,” Ball said outside court.“He walks in the community and causes grave threat to our society and that’s demonstrated by his criminal history, and the judge ruled in accordance with that.”Lacy had argued that Drake’s background should weigh heavily in support of a lighter parole term.’Inexplicable, needless,’ says judge Drake is a member of the Big Stone Cree Nation in Alberta and moved with his family to Nova Scotia. A Gladue report, which looked at Drake’s Indigenous background and difficult upbringing, was prepared for the court to consider in sentencing.Norton said Stay’s death was a loss for the people of Nova Scotia and the judge expressed doubts about the chances of Drake being rehabilitated. He described the murder as “inexplicable, needless, senseless and gratuitous.”Drake’s sentencing is complicated by the fact he has also been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2016 shooting death of Tyler Keizer. That conviction carries an automatic life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison before Drake can begin applying for parole in that case.The jury in the Stay case was never told about Drake’s prior murder conviction.Drake must serve the two sentences concurrently. It means that even after he serves 17 years in the Stay case, he will have about eight more years to serve in the Keizer murder.Stay’s family and friends packed Friday’s court session, including his widow, Malyssa Burns.She had posted earlier on social media that because she could not address Drake directly in the courtroom, she would not speak at the hearing.MORE TOP STORIES ABOUT THE AUTHORBlair Rhodes has been a journalist for more than 40 years, the last 31 with CBC. His primary focus is on stories of crime and public safety. He can be reached at blair.rhodes@cbc.ca
Adam Drake must serve at least 17 years in Pat Stay murder
