Deputy DPP says killing by mother and son was orchestrated

The slaying of Gregory Adams was not a result of a mother and son defending themselves from domestic violence, but was an “orchestrated” killing, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC insisted on Wednesday.

Giving his closing arguments in the trial of Shonette Vanessa Williams and Calvin Osbort Osbourne before the 12-member jury in the No. 4 Supreme Court, the state lawyer, who along with State Counsel Paul Prescod prosecuted the case, said there was no question the mother and son killed Adams on October 18, 2020. He told the jurors it was important they were not “bogged down” by the claim of domestic violence, terming it “a red herring”.

Seale said there was no evidence presented to the court of any such act being committed by the deceased against Williams, either by reports made to the police or by witnesses.

Pointing to the evidence given by Dr Andrew Murray that one of the accused had a small scratch while the other had no injuries at all, the prosecutor said this showed it was not a case of the accused being attacked by 44-year old Adams, especially when compared to the 22 “chops, cuts and stabs” found about the deceased’s body.

“It wasn’t like a machine gun where you pull the trigger and the gun went off (multiple times). It was 22 deliberate acts, one after the other . . . . Domestic violence, where is it?” Seale stated.

The deputy DPP pointed to the photos of the home, which showed blood throughout the front bedroom, along the walls, in the kitchen and into the yard where Adams had collapsed, and he questioned the lack of blood found on the shirt handed over by Osbourne to police.

Making reference to the white-handled knife that was photographed in the right hand of the deceased, the senior counsel pointed out that while there was blood on the blade, none of the accused had any knife injury. In addition, he said, while there was blood in the deceased’s hand, none was observed on the knife handle.

“He never had this knife; killed the man and put the knife in his hand,” Seale contended.

He also highlighted Williams’ behaviour before the incident occurred, noting that she had been picked up by a good Samaritan on the side of the road, after she was put out of the car Adams and two other persons were travelling in that morning. Recalling that Williams told the man that she had been beaten by her boyfriend and left on the road, Seale said she rejected the offer to be taken to the police station to report the matter, opting instead to be taken home.

The prosecutor then turned the spotlight on the video interview given by Osbourne, who said that his mother had found Adams sleeping in bed when she got home and struck him in the head with a beer bottle.

He said that it was at this point that witnesses in the home said Adams came out of the bedroom bleeding from his head, saying he had done nothing to her and she was looking to make trouble.

“And they want to tell you about domestic violence? Was that fair to Gregory Adams? If he hit you, as we concede, in the car, you would have gone to the police station; but she wanted to go home. The man get home before she, because she had to walk, and gone in bed and gone sleep. He didn’t wait up for her or make noise with the children. He did nothing but sleep, and she comes and wakes him up with a Banks bottle to the top of his head,” Seale stressed.

Attorneys Peta-Gay Lee-Brace and Nicole Roachford represent Williams while Sian Lange is defence counsel for Osbourne.

Madam Justice Laurie-Anne Smith-Bovell will deliver her summation of the trial on May 21.