Barnett denies murdering man in Silver Hill

Raheem Travonte Barnett told a 12-member jury that he was not the person who shot and killed O’Neill Chase in Silver Hill in 2019. In fact, he said he had just disembarked a van in the area when he heard gunshots, and it was later in the day that he heard accusations that he was the shooter.

The 27-year-old insisted his innocence as he gave an unsworn statement  from the dock of the No. 4 Supreme Court.

Barnett, of Regency Park, Christ Church, is charged with murdering Chase on October 5, 2019. Chase died two months after being shot in his head close to his Silver Hill, Christ Church home.

Addressing the court after the prosecution closed its case, Barnett said that on August 8, 2019, he caught a van and went to an area in Silver Hill where men would lime and play football.

“When I got out of this van, Ma’am, I hear gunshots. I run to the area of the hardcourts and was dey for approximately 15 minutes to half-hour,” he said.

After heading home and bathing, he went on the block and while there he was accused of shooting Chase.

Barnett stated that he turned himself in at the police station accompanied by King’s Counsel Michael Lashley. After being questioned, he was taken home where officers searched for a gun.

“I never had a gun. I never shoot O’Neill. Me and he was never involved in any altercation in the past or had nothing,” he said.

When informed by police that an eyewitness had seen him shoot Chase, Barnett again denied having any firearm that day.

He also said that there were reasons why people would finger him as Chase’s shooter. For one, he said, he had been in a relationship with the girlfriend of a male witness and “he tell me that he gine find some way to get back at me”.

“I am not a trouble person nor a violent person. I was never charged and never convicted,” the accused stated.

Anatomical pathologist Dr Althea Neblett, who conducted the post-mortem on Chase’s body on November 1, 2019, had earlier testified that Chase’s cause of death was complications of gunshot wounds to the face and head.

“Mr Chase had thrombosis or clotting of the right vein of the leg which was complicated by . . . dislodged clots of blood to the lung arteries,” she disclosed, pointing out that due to Chase’s immobility as a result of the gunshot wounds, thrombosis was a major risk factor.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC is prosecuting the case along with State Counsel Paul Prescod. Lashley represents accused Barnett.

Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell, who is presiding over the trial, adjourned the matter until September 16.