Verdict looms for accused

Quamina Street fatal stabbing

Kelvin Chisholm, who recently denied he committed the May 1, 2014 murder of Nigel Lawson, who was fatally stabbed at Quamina Street, Georgetown, will soon know his fate as the State rested its case after star witness Rawlin Sarrabo testified at the High Court on Wednesday.

Sarrabo, who now lives in the United States, testified via Skype that in May 2014, he was living at 252 Quamina Street, Georgetown, where he witnessed the two men having an argument in front of his home on the day in question.
The 12-member jury heard that Sarrabo knew Lawson from doing odd jobs in the area and he would often ask for money. The witness also recalled that the argument between the two was loud and that Lawson was swinging his hands. Sarrabo claimed that there was no struggle and Lawson was trying to get away from the accused. He further testified that he did not see the phone or iPod in Lawson’s hands.
The accused man allegedly told Police that the now deceased man had stolen the said items from him. Sarrabo meanwhile testified that he witnessed the stabbing, but did not see what “the man on the bicycle” used to stab the now deceased man. Under cross-examination by defence counsel Compton Richardson, it was suggested that the star witness was not telling the court the whole truth of what he saw that night, but Sarrabo said that this was incorrect and maintained his story.
Earlier in the trial, Police Detective Inspector Herbet Henry testified to witnessing the caution statement of Chisholm and that he took him back to the scene on Quamina Street. According to the witness, the accused said the deceased “thief me thing and I went behind he and he cuff me; we had a scuffle and ah tek me knife and bore he.”
Henry told the jury that he went to the place where Chisholm said he was guarding and recovered the cellphone, iPod and bicycle.
It was on Tuesday that Police Lance Corporal Quinn Sandy testified that the accused told him that the now deceased man went into his yard and stole his cellphone and iPod. The Policeman had also told the jury that Chisholm told him that the two men had a “fine scuffle”.
Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh testified that Lawson’s cause of death was perforation to the heart and lungs visa stab wound. State Counsels Narissa Leander and Abigail Gibbs are assisting the prosecution’s case while Chisholm is also being represented by defence counsel Hewley Griffith. The matter is expected to conclude before Justice Navindra Singh today.