Eyewitness accounts of the night Declan Laverty was fatally stabbed inside a Darwin bottle shop have been detailed in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on the second day of the murder trial of Keith Kerinauia.

Warning: This story contains graphic details of injuries.

Mr Kerinauia was charged with the murder of 20-year-old Declan Laverty, who died in March 2023 while working at a BWS bottle shop in the suburb of Jingili.

Mr Kerinauia has pleaded not guilty to the charge, with his lawyers arguing he acted in self-defence when he stabbed Mr Laverty several times.

On Tuesday, CCTV of the moments Mr Kerinauia stabbed Mr Laverty were played in court, with footage also showing Mr Laverty wielding a small knife during the altercation.

Witnesses who were at the bottle shop at the time of the stabbing gave evidence on Tuesday, including security guard Rifat Mahmud, who attempted to revive Mr Laverty as he lay on the floor bleeding after he was stabbed.

Moments of fatal altercation detailed in court

Mr Mahmud told the court he and Mr Laverty ordered  Mr Kerinauia to leave the store after Mr Kerinauia entered without shoes on.

It is alleged a brief argument between Mr Laverty and Mr Kerinauia then took place before Mr Kerinauia walked to his car outside, retrieved a knife, and re-entered the store.

Mr Mahmud said he saw Mr Kerinauia stab Mr Laverty in the chest, telling the court he was yelling at Mr Laverty to come inside a staff-only room where he was holding the door shut.

"Declan rushed into the toilet section because he was bleeding badly," Mr Mahmud said.

"After a while his eyes started getting bigger and he started bleeding from his mouth … I put my mouth on his mouth to try to give him air.

"I was really terrified … it's the first time I've seen someone dying in front of me."

During cross examination, Mr Mahmud was shown CCTV from inside the BWS showing him speaking to Mr Laverty and pushing his arm in the moments before Mr Kerinauia re-entered the store with a knife.

Mr Kerinauia's lawyer, Jon Tippett KC, asked the witness: "Was the chat for Declan not to pull out his knife?"

"No," the witness responded.

Mr Mahmud was also asked whether he remembered seeing Mr Laverty pull out a knife and "lunge" at Mr Kerinauia.

"It was a terrifying moment. I can't recall," he responded.

At the request of the prosecution, the CCTV will not be released to media until after the conclusion of the trial.

Triple-0 call played to court

Three customers who were in the BWS at the time of the alleged murder gave evidence on Tuesday, including Christel Shuttleworth, who described crouching behind a shelf of wine and hiding inside the cool room during the confrontation.

Ms Shuttleworth told the court she heard Mr Kerinauia threaten to stab Mr Laverty after he asked the accused to leave the store for having no shoes.

She then said she saw the accused running toward Mr Laverty with a 30-centimetre knife raised above his head.

After seeing Mr Laverty bleeding, Ms Shuttleworth said she called triple-0.

In that call, which was played to the court, witnesses can be heard saying: "Oh my god, he's not OK," and, "he's losing consciousness".

Another witness, Mandeep Singh, told the court he saw Mr Kerinauia laughing as he left the scene following the stabbing.

The court heard Mr Laverty pulled out a five-centimetre "cutting blade" from his back pocket during the altercation with Mr Kerinauia.

A co-worker of Mr Laverty's was questioned by the defence about whether BWS employees were provided with box cutters.

The witness told the court there was a box cutter kept beneath the front counter for work purposes that would normally be returned after use.

The trial is scheduled for 10 days and will continue on Wednesday.