DPP dismisses concern over separate church murder cases
Published:Tuesday | February 16, 2021 | 12:14 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has shrugged off a concern raised by an attorney over how the cases against three men charged in relation to the January 31 murder of banker Andrea Lowe-Garwood at a Trelawny church are being handled.
Yesterday, Javan Garwood and Dwight Bingham appeared in the Trelawny Parish Court but were not asked to answer the charges against them as Bingham was still without an attorney and the police indicated that the investigation was only 90 per cent complete. They have been remanded until March 2.
When Garwood and Bingham arrived at the courthouse handcuffed together at approximately 10:30 a.m., the former immediately grabbed the spotlight in a T-shirt with ‘You’re looking at a legend’ emblazoned on the front.
They are facing charges of murder, illegal possession of firearm, accessory before the fact and after the fact, and conspiracy to commit murder.
Garwood, the deceased’s stepson, was represented by attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas.
A third accused, Leon Hines, appeared in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston last Friday and was remanded until February 18. He is reportedly pursuing a plea deal.
Speaking after the hearing, Thomas expressed concern that unlike Garwood and Bingham, Hines’ matter was being handled in Kingston.
“It is worrying that Hines was absent from today’s proceedings. The incident happened in Trelawny and the court is here in Trelawny. I am not sure of the discussion Hines has with the Crown, but we will wait and see,” said Thomas.
When contacted, Llewellyn said it was not up to Thomas to determine how the cases are handled.
“How we deal with the case is our prerogative. Mr Thomas has access to the information disclosed to him by the prosecution,” said Llewellyn. “As it relates to how the matter with Mr Hines is handled, it is entirely up to the DPP, the police, and Hines’ attorney, and I can tell you that Mr Thomas is not Mr Hines’ attorney,” she said.
Police reports are that about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 31, Lowe-Garwood was in a worship session at the Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Falmouth, when a man posing as a member of the congregation pulled a firearm and shot her several times in the upper body.
She was taken to the Falmouth Public General Hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment.
The killer, who fled the scene in a waiting motor car, and his alleged accomplices were tracked down and subsequently arrested and charged.
Indications are that the murder stemmed from a family dispute over property.