…“I know me ain’t do nothing ma’am” – 2nd murder accused tells Judge
A 20-year-old murder accused was freed on Monday after a Judge upheld a no-case submission made on his behalf by his attorney-at-law.
Murdered: Brian Charles Yearwood, Murder accused: Shannon Cox, Freed: Andy Peters
Andy Peters left the Demerara High Court a free man after Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall upheld the no-case submission made by his lawyer, Latchmie Rahamat.
Peters along with Shannon Cox, 23, were jointly charged with the April 29, 2017 murder of 17-year-old Brian Charles Yearwood.
The men’s trial commenced last month before a 12-member mixed jury. When the prosecution closed its case, Peters’ lawyer, Rahamat, and Cox’s lawyer, Madan Kissoon, told the court that there was no case against their clients.
Justice Morris-Ramlall upheld the no-case submission made on Peters’ behalf and directed the jury to return a formal not guilty verdict in his favour. She, however, overruled the no-case submission made on Cox’s behalf.
As such, the murder accused was called upon to lead a defence. Cox, who appeared in court virtually, elected to give an unsworn statement; he called no witnesses.
“I didn’t have no problem with no one…. I don’t know the person who dead. Is when I go at the station they show me a picture of him [Yearwood]… I cooperate with them [Police] because I know me ain’t do nothing ma’am…,” a teary Cox told the Judge.
Following Cox’s testimony, his lawyer and the prosecutor, Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave, made closing addresses. The Judge will sum up the evidence in this matter on Thursday at 09:00h before putting the case to the jury for deliberation on a verdict.
Yearwood, formerly of Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was stabbed once to the chest while attending a concert hosted by the Covent Garden Nursery School in the school’s compound.
It was reported that the stabbing stemmed from an old grievance between the now dead teen and the duo. Yearwood, who was a student of the Covent Garden Secondary School, was found lying motionlessly on the grass by an off-duty cop.
The injured teenager was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Reports are that the murder weapon, a knife, was found at the home of one of the persons accused of killing Yearwood. (G1)
