Teacher’s manslaughter trial set for next month

WESTERN BUREAU:

Kerry-Ann Cunningham, the teacher who is charged in connection with the death of a student at Anchovy Primary School in St James, is slated to appear in the St James Circuit Court on October 3 to answer a charge of common-law manslaughter.

Cunningham was arrested and charged after the car she was reversing on the grounds of the school, where she works, struck grade five student Easton Stapleton, killing him on the spot.

Cunningham’s trial should have started last Monday, when the Circuit Court’s Michaelmas sitting started. However, she was given the new court date by presiding High Court Justice Glen Brown in order for documents to be served on defence attorney Morrel Beckford. Her bail was extended until the new date.

The allegations against Cunningham state that at approximately 4 p.m. on June 12, 2018, she was reversing her car when she lost control of the vehicle, which struck and killed young Stapleton.

The vehicle eventually crashed into a wall, which then collapsed, injuring a vendor, who was selling outside the school’s compound.

Cunningham, who was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving, made her first court appearance on July 10, 2018. The charge was changed to common-law manslaughter during a subsequent committal hearing on April 24 this year. Seven witness statements, the accident reconstruction report, and the postmortem report were also admitted into evidence for Cunningham’s trial.