Wanted man in technician’s murder reportedly gave false name to cops
Published:Tuesday | April 23, 2024 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The St James Parish Court has ordered that Saroyan Brown, the man implicated in the 2022 shooting death of cable technician Kemar Wilson in Catherine Hall, St James, should be held in police custody until May 24, following a failed bail application on his behalf on Friday.
Brown, who is charged with Wilson’s murder and appeared in court wearing a neck brace, was ordered by presiding parish judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton to be remanded after his lawyer Khadine Colman unsuccessfully applied for bail.
In applying for bail, Colman argued that Brown had not been in St James at the time of Wilson’s death on August 5, 2022, as he had previously relocated to St Thomas due to threats that were reportedly made to his life.
“He does not wish to be in the parish of St James due to the threats to his life,” Colman argued during the bail application.
But in opposing bail for Brown, the prosecution stated that Brown had been identified as a person of interest on the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s ‘Wanted Wednesdays’ feature prior to his arrest.
FLIGHT RISK
The prosecution also voiced concern that Brown would be a flight risk as the police tracked him to St Thomas following Wilson’s death, and also because when he was detained and transported back to St James, he continually identified himself as Frank Allen even in his caution statement.
“I was not aware that persons could change their names outside of the legal means of a deed poll. This accused man took on a name and took himself out of the parish of St James, and even after he was apprehended, he continued to maintain this new name that he took on for himself,” Judge Fairclough-Hylton commented.
Meanwhile, attorney Colman requested that Brown should be taken for medical treatment, pointing to his neck brace, as he had reportedly been beaten while in police custody.
“I know he has cause not to trust the police because he was beaten, and it was reported to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) before I came into the matter,” Colman told the court.
It was also disclosed that the ballistic report was still outstanding from the prosecution’s case file, and that disclosure of the available documents from the file had not yet been made to Colman.
Fairclough-Hylton subsequently ordered Brown to be remanded until May 24, with disclosure of documents to be made to Colman by May 15. She also ordered that Brown should be taken for medical treatment ahead of the May 24 return date.
According to reports, on August 5, 2022, Kemar Wilson was at a shop in Catherine Hall with other persons when gunmen approached them and shot him and another patron before fleeing the scene. Wilson was pronounced dead at hospital and the other patron hospitalised.