MoBay man charged for killing UTech student

WESTERN BUREAU:

A St James man was charged on Monday with the murder of University of Technology (UTech) student Demar Stennett, who was stabbed to death along Merriam Way, near Westgate Hills in Montego Bay, on January 5.

The accused has been identified as 21-year-old Rahjif Morgan of Porto Bello, also in St James. He is believed to be a friend of the deceased, who resided in Cornwall Courts.

According to reports, about  a.m. on the day of the murder, a team of soldiers assigned to the zone of special operations in Mt Salem was carrying out patrols along a section of Merriam Way when they saw Morgan standing beside a parked motor car.

Morgan was reportedly approached by the soldiers, who enquired why he was at the location, and he indicated to them that the vehicle had broken down. However, his suspicious behaviour, as well as several wounds to his face caught the soldiers' attention.

As the soldiers got out of their vehicle, Morgan ran off into nearby bushes. He was chased and caught. He was subdued after engaging the soldiers in a fistfight.

When he was taken back to the location of the car, the soldiers noticed a bloody knife inside. After he was questioned about the knife, Morgan reportedly took them to nearby bushes where Stennett's body was seen with multiple stab wounds.

The soldiers summoned the police, who processed the scene. Morgan and one of the soldiers who was hurt in the fistfight were taken to Cornwall Regional Hospital for treatment. Morgan was subsequently taken into custody.

Morgan is booked to appear in the St James Parish Court today.

Stennett was the first person to be murdered in St James for 2019.