Trio on murder charge offered bail
Published:Wednesday | December 4, 2024 | 12:12 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Three men charged for the shooting death of a man in east Kingston earlier this year were each offered $700,000 bail when they appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
Trevon Lambert, 21, otherwise called ‘Cabi’, of Upper Second Street; Dequan Scott, of East Road; and Gavin Davidson, of Nelson Street, all in Kingston, were offered bail by Chief Parish Judge Chester Crooks following a bail application on Monday by attorney-at law Shamar Hanson.
The trio is charged with murder, possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorised possession of ammunition and making use of a firearm to commit a felony stemming from the January 31 murder of 24-year-old Mark Ffrench.
They were offered bail on the condition that they surrender their travel documents with a stop order at ports and report to the nearest police station Monday through Saturday. A curfew order was also imposed.
Additionally, the men were granted bail on condition that they relocate from the Kingston West division and warned that they are not to be seen in the area.
According to police, about 10:45 p.m., Ffrench was in the East Road area of Kingston when he was approached by the accused men who were all armed with weapons.
The gunmen allegedly fired at Ffrench, hitting him several times.
The police were alerted and, on their arrival, Ffrench was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Hanson, who is representing Lambert but made the application on behalf of all the accused, told the judge that the men are maintaining their innocence and have indicated that they were elsewhere at the time of the shooting.
The lawyer said the accused men are relying on their alibi and have witnesses to vouch for their whereabouts.
Hanson further submitted that the prosecution’s identification evidence is weak and raised concerns about the credibility of the sole eyewitness.
He pointed out that identification was done through a hole in a wall on the night of the incident and that the witness never specified for how long the men were observed while arguing that the identification evidence did not meet the requirements as stipulated by case law.
In the meantime, the matter was transferred to the Supreme Court for committal proceedings on December 16.
Attorney-at-law Abina Morrison is representing Scott and Davidson.