5 alleged Bloods Gang members remanded as hearing fails to flicker
Published:Wednesday | October 12, 2022 | 12:13 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Five alleged members of the Clarendon-based Bloods Gang were yesterday remanded until January 11 next year after their plea and case management hearing failed to start in the Home Circuit Court.
Abigayle Hydol, George Robinson, Travis Hardy, Franklyn Miller, and Alex Miller are charged with murder, illegal possession of firearm and robbery with aggravation.
A sixth defendant, Stephen Williams, was also implicated in the matter, but he has been presumed dead by the police after being reported missing last August. The court is currently awaiting documents to prove this.
On Tuesday, when the defendants appeared in court remotely, Hardy and Miller were unrepresented, so the case management hearing could not proceed.
Justice Vinette Graham-Allen, as a result, instructed that both defendants be assigned legal aid lawyers.
Miller, 64, was being represented King’s Counsel Tom Tavares-Finson, but the senior counsel had written to the court, indicating that he wishes to withdraw from the case.
However, the judge had ordered that the attorney appear before her.
Consequently, Tavares-Finson showed up on Tuesday and explained to the court that one of Miller’s relatives had asked him to represent the defendant, but that the family member is unable to pay the full fee.
After hearing his explanation, the judge granted him permission to step away from the matter, but advised Miller that the case could not proceed with him being unrepresented. She, however, explained that the court could assign him a legal aid lawyer, to which he reluctantly agreed.
In the meantime, there was confusion surrounding whether a bench warrant that was ordered for Alex Miller arrest was executed. Neither the prosecutor nor the police were able to confirm. But Graham-Allen, in the meantime, has ordered that the executed warrant be submitted.
The judge had issued the warrant after Miller, who was on bail, failed to appear in court last month.
The Bloods Gang, which operated in southern Clarendon, is alleged to have been engaged in extortion and multiple contract killings.
Two alleged members of the gang this year pleaded guilty to several charges, including murder, and were sentenced to life in prison.
Michael Black, 18, who pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of illegal possession of firearm, and three counts of robbery with aggravation, is to serve 20 years and three months before he is eligible for parole.
The other convict, Travis Gilman, pleaded guilty to a range of serious crimes, including three murders, and was sentenced to a total of 210 years in prison.
However, he will be considered for parole after serving 25 years, as his sentences are to run concurrently.
Gilman’s role in the gang allegedly included hiring gunmen; purchasing guns for them; transporting them to commit murders; and ensuring that the hitmen were paid for their services.