Police officers give evidence in murder trial

Renaldo Stevenson Kirkley Carter told police that after he and his cousin Jason Carter got into an argument over breakfast items, they ended up in a scuffle, during which he heard a loud sound and saw his relative fall to the ground.

Renaldo Carter, of 1st Avenue, Vauxhall, Christ Church, is accused of the murder of Jason Carter, of the same address, on New Year’s Day 2015.

Reading the initial interview of the accused into evidence in the No. 5 Supreme Court on Monday, Station Sergeant Fabian Griffith, who was working at the Oistins Criminal Investigation Department at the time, stated that when told about the investigation into the shooting, Carter said: “The only thing that I can recall is that I had an argument with Jason, but I don’t have any knowledge of having any firearm or discharging one.”

When asked about the argument, the accused said he had gone in the cupboard to get Weetabix and sugar to make breakfast when Jason snatched the items from him, accusing him of doing nothing but coming to eat all the time.

In his written statement to the police, the accused, who was 31 at the time of the incident, went into more detail, saying that Jason slapped him in his face after snatching the items from him.

“I went to his mother and told him what happened, and Jason came into his mother’s bedroom and chucked me and said to me ‘Say something, and I going to burst your face’. At this time, I was asking him, ‘Why you always doing this to me?’ Jason told me to get out of the house, so I went outside. He continued to shout and curse at me, so I cursed back at him and he came outside at me. I saw him with something in his hand, he jump on me, and we started to struggle. I tried to get way, but he grabbed me, and I heard a loud sound and he drop to the ground. I was so frightened I get up and run way,” the statement read.

Renaldo said he did not know what Jason had in his hand but recalled that the loud sound was “like a box juice bursting”.

Denying having a firearm, he also told officers that he could not remember shooting his cousin or seeing any blood on him. He said he ran away from the scene as he got frightened upon seeing blood on the ground.

The accused said he went back inside the house, grabbed his bag and walked up the gap to St David’s. Asked where the bag was, he said he did know.

Scenes of Crime Investigator Police Constable Robert Alleyne also presented evidence before the 12-member jury and Madam Justice Pamela Beckles.

Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis and State Counsel Eleazar William are prosecuting the matter, while attorney Marlon Gordon represents the accused.