The trial of an NDG man charged with murdering his girlfriend in 2013 began Friday morning at the Montreal courthouse.

Michael Gero is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sherri Thomas.

The 19-year-old was living on Grand Blvd. with her boyfriend, Gero, when on the morning of Nov. 19, 2013 when he placed a panicked call to 9-1-1.

The audio of the recording was played for the jury and in the call, Gero sounds frantic. Much of what he says can't be understood by the 9-1-1 operator, but he can be heard clearly saying, "Please help me. She's shot in the head."

The first witness called was the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Thomas, who told the court how Thomas died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The jury was told Thomas was left-handed and that the wound was on the left side of her head.

There were powder burns on her skin indicating the gun was close to her head when she was shot.

“The things that are presented today leave you to think a little bit,” said George Thomas, the victim’s grandfather, who was in court Friday.

The delay in the start of the trial has taken its toll for the young woman’s family, he said.

“We’re emotional and anxious. (There’s) a fair amount of anxiety. We don't know what's going to happen. We just hope that justice will take its course,” he said. “I know that my granddaughter loved life and she wasn't going to take her life – because that's his insinuation.”

In his opening remarks, prosecutor Jacques Dagenais told the jury that when police first entered the apartment, they found Gero covered in blood and no sign of a weapon.

He also told the jury Thomas’s blood was found in various parts of the apartment and that the gun was later found on the roof of the building.

Gero listened to the statement and testimony calmly from the prisoner's box.

The trial is expected to last four weeks

“We knew what the court system is and we know there was a whole backlog of cases so we just waited out there and fortunately it has come,” said George Thomas, adding that the family intends to be there throughout.

“We do intend to be here every day. It's my granddaughter, we'd like to hear what happened,” he said.