Civilian gives evidence in 2018 murder trial

A group of more than 10 men, some armed with weapons, were running behind Kemar Gooding as he chased Jamar Watson onto the construction site at the Constitution River Terminal on March 27, 2018.

This was the testimony given on Monday by Adrian Thompson in the No. 4 Supreme Court, in the murder trial of 36-year-old Watson of School Gap, Hindsbury Road, St Michael, who is charged with murdering Gooding, a resident of Ellerton, St George.

The carpenter, who said he was working with the Ministry of Transport and Works at that time, said that morning he was in one of the shops in the van stand having a conversation with a man called Mercy who showed him a hammer and other items under the table.

He testified that later, as he was working on the third floor of the terminal which was under construction, he heard someone say, ‘Look at he running’. Looking over the balcony, he saw Mercy and “10 to 13 men running Jamar”.

Thompson recalled seeing Watson sliding down as he turned into the fencing of the construction site, where they both worked, before getting back up and running into the building. The witness stated that Gooding fell in the same spot before he ran into the compound and fell again.

“A ZR pull up, and the men throw the fella in the van and pull out,” he said.

Questioned by Deputy Director of Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC as to whether anyone was in the immediate vicinity around Gooding after he fell except Watson, Thompson replied, “No”.

Thompson told the court that Watson was a friend that he had known for 12 years before the incident.

During the cross-examination by defence attorney Safiya Moore, the witness said the items he was shown under the table were a pair of scissors and a knife. He said that when the group of men were running, he saw one man with a hammer and another with a knife in his hand. He said those on the site began throwing rocks and buckets to prevent the group of men from entering the compound.

Asked whether he saw Watson with a knife in his hand when he entered the building, he replied in the negative. The witness said that by that time, he had gone downstairs and the accused was armed with two rocks which he threw outside and headed up the stairs.