Jermaine ”Smokey” Jeffers and Howard “Spleen” Rambarose were committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder of Orin David Malik, when they appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman.
Malik was shot on August 1, 2016, at Laing Avenue, Georgetown following an argument stemming from the payment of debts.
Magistrate Latchman in handing down her decision said based on evidence offered during the course of the Preliminary Inquiry (PI), the court is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a prima facie case has been established against the two accused.
This decision came following the testimony of a Police Constable just under a week ago, who in the capacity of an eyewitness implicated Rambarose as the triggerman in the killing.
Orin Malik
The Constable in statements given under oath, testified to seeing Malik with both hands in the air as Romel Ross stood armed with a black pistol along with a second gunman he identified as “Spleen”, who had a shotgun pointed at the deceased’s face.
According to the witness, Malik pushed the weapon away from his face after which he was served a slap to the face by “Spleen”, as Ross prepared to send the deceased to his fate.
Howard “Spleen” Rambarose, Jermaine “Smokey” Jeffers, Negus Lamaizon and Samuel McIntyre were earlier this year charged for the killing of Malik. The deceased was reportedly riddled with bullets by his former acquaintances and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
However, on March 30, 2017, Magistrate Dylon Bess discharged the matter against Lamizon and McIntyre owing to insufficient evidence, as he declared that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the men in order to commit them to stand trial at the High Court. Bess pronounced that the essential elements of murder were not proved, and that none of the 12 witnesses could positively identify the two accused as the persons who had shot the deceased.
Meanwhile, Lamaizon was jointly charged with Curton Taylor for a series of armed robberies just two weeks after he was cleared of the Laing Avenue murder of Orin David Malik.
However a preemptory trial was ordered for July 10, 2017 by Magistrate Latchman last Monday (June 26) as the prosecution lagged in timely production of statements and possession of the file.
