A teenage boy on trial for the murder of a 16-year-old boy on the Sunshine Coast has admitted he previously expressed he wanted to kill him, but told a jury this was "an empty threat".
In January 2022, the 18-year-old, who cannot be identified because he was a juvenile at the time, stabbed Balin Stewart once in the chest during a fight outside his Buddina home.
He pleaded not guilty to murder on Monday at the beginning of a Supreme Court trial being held in Brisbane.
The jury has already heard that in the years before the fight, there had been ongoing hostility between the two boys due to a teenage girl known to them both.
It has also heard that on the night of the stabbing, the teenage girl had sent a series of videos to the then-17-year-old which included Balin, in a bid to "provoke" him.
On Friday, the prosecution wrapped up its evidence and the then-17-year-old testified in his defence.
He told the jury on the afternoon of the stabbing, a friend had invited him to a party, where the teenage girl was going to be.
He said he ultimately decided not to attend because that same friend said: "Bro, don't come, they have knives with them".
"[The friend] had told me there were people there who didn't want me there and they had knives," he said.
The court heard the then-17-year-old understood these people to be Balin and two other friends.
Several hours later, the then-17-year-old recalled being at home and receiving messages from the teenage girl, before she called him several times.
During the calls, he testified he heard a male voice he did not recognise, who he claimed was "baiting me".
"Trying to get me to come over to the party … to get beat up or worse," he said.
"[I] felt unsafe, scared," he said.
'Does Balin want to fight?'
Later that night, he told the jury he began receiving the video messages from the teenage girl and these had "triggered me" to respond to her in a vulgar manner.
"I was being an idiot," he said about some of his responses.
After this, the then-17-year-old told the jury "I felt jealous" so he sent a message saying "does Balin want to fight?"
He told the jury a video was sent to him in reply, which depicted Balin saying "yeah, come but don't bring any boys with you".
"That kind of prompted me to get up and go … and after seeing all the videos," he said.
He told the jury he took a knife from his kitchen because of the earlier warning that Balin and friends had knives, and then he drove to his home.
On his way, he told the jury he sent a video of himself to the teenage girl but could not recall what he said or did in the footage but remembered feeling "very anxious".
Once he arrived, he told the jury he messaged the teenage girl to come out, got out of his car, walked toward the home and yelled come out, before throwing the knife on the ground.
"It felt very real at that moment that this was about to happen … a fight," he said.
He went on to describe the moment the two boys started punching each other and wrestling, before being split up by the teenage girl.
He told the jury at this point he spoke with the teenage girl away from Balin, but could see him looking angry and "puffed his chest" toward him in what he believed was done to "make me react".
The then-17-year-old told the jury he then retrieved the knife shortly before the pair began fighting again.
He told the jury, "I didn't realise the knife was in my hand" and he punched him in the side and "15 seconds later he just dropped".
"It didn't feel like I had stabbed him," he said.
"I was just in shock. I was, like, frozen."
'I didn't hate him'
He told the court he dropped the knife again before calling triple-0 and walking over to Balin.
"I said to him, Balin, hang in there, I'm calling an ambulance," he said.
Under cross-examination by the prosecution, the teen admitted he became "more jealous" of Balin over time but denied hating him despite telling people this.
"I didn't hate him, I strongly disliked him at times," he said.
The teen also admitted he previously told a friend he wanted to kill Balin but he told the jury "it was an empty threat".
Defence lawyer Charlotte Smith told the jury her client "doesn't have to prove his innocence" but still wanted to give evidence.
"He wants you to hear his side of the story."
Ms Smith told the court, "you don't have to choose who you believe".
"It's for you to decide whether you will accept the whole of what a witness has to say, or part of it, or none of it," she said.
Ms Smith said there was no denial her client stabbed Balin, but: "What is in dispute is whether the killing was unlawful."
"The defence case will contend that you should consider whether [then-17-year-old] was acting in self-defence at the time," she said.
The then-17-year-old will continue giving evidence on Monday.
