Judge warns man freed of murder charge to keep out of trouble
Published:Thursday | March 23, 2023 | 12:45 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A Kingston man was given a stern warning by a parish court judge to keep out of trouble and avoid the courts after he was freed of murder and gun charges.
Thirty-four-year-old Rayon Williams was arrested and charged with the murder of 19-year-old Elijah Lewis on February 22 last year.
Williams, who was also charged with illegal possession of firearm and illegal possession of ammunition, was freed after Parish Judge Leighton Morris ruled that a prima facie case had not been established by the prosecution.
The judge, however, warned the accused not to find himself before the courts again despite his good fortune this time around.
Parish Judge Morris, while highlighting that serious crimes, especially murders, were far too prevalent, encouraged Williams to make use of his opportunity as only a few cases of the hundreds that come before the courts end in such a manner.
The allegations in the case were that Williams and three other men went into a gully in Allman Town, Kingston, with the now-deceased Lewis, moments before he was shot in the head and killed.
All five men had reportedly travelled together to Vincent Street in the community at 10:40 a.m. in a grey motor car.
Shortly after going into the gully, residents reportedly heard screams for help, which were followed by loud explosions.
Four men were then reportedly observed leaving the gully before departing the community.
Following checks, Lewis was found with gunshot wounds to his head.
Williams was implicated after he was reportedly captured on a video recording entering and leaving the gully.
The video was reportedly examined by the police’s Communication Forensic and Cybercrimes Division.
But Williams’ lawyer, Kemoy McEkron, argued during the committal hearing that the purported video footage was circumstantial in nature and could not be used to link his client to the crime.
He added that there was no evidence of the footage as it had not been submitted in the committal bundle and had not been forthcoming.
The prosecution, for its part, conceded that there was no evidence to establish that Williams was part of a joint enterprise that committed the murder.