Dawson admits to murder on day 4 of trial

One of the men accused of the shooting death of Rondell Alexander threw in the towel and admitted to the slaying as the trial reached its fourth day in the No. 3 Supreme Court on Thursday.

Shane Dawson of 5th Avenue Peterkin, Bank Hall admitted to the December 13, 2019 murder, moments after the 12-member jury began to hear evidence.

Alexander was killed by a gunshot wound to the head while liming with others in front of a bar at Gills Road, Eagle Hall.

The State represented by Principal State Counsel Neville Watson and State Counsel Treann Knight accepted the plea.

Dawson’s attorney, Angella Mitchell-Gittens SC, then requested a pre-sentence report, which Justice Carlisle Greaves ordered for July 15. Dawson will be sentenced on September 27.

He had been jointly charged with Trasuon Alleyne, 26, of Morris Gap, Westbury Road for the killing.

As the trial continued, Station Sargeant Deric Griffith read Alleyne’s police statement into evidence, as the court heard his admission that he had walked with Dawson near to the bar that night, but had left after he realised that the other man was “up to something”.

Alleyne said that on the day of the killing, he went straight on the block after coming home from work and limed with several other men until dark. Later that night, Dawson said to come and “make a short turn” with him but did not say where he was going. The two walked along several roads before heading into “the small gap”. Alleyne said at this time he was walking behind Dawson.

The statement read: “We did reach the top of the gap. I realise he look out the gap and then I realised he was up to something. I told him I was going back down the gap that we came up and he told me ‘No’ as I continued to walk away from him. As I approach back to the bottom of the gap, he started firing gunshots towards the bar as I continue to run away. I continued running down the gap ’til I found my way home.”

Alleyne said upon reaching home, his girlfriend informed him of Alexander’s death but was “too devastated” to tell her “I know who had done it”.

Asked in the police interview as to what he meant by Dawson “was up to something”, he replied: “I believed he was up to a shooting.” The accused told officers that he first saw the gun when Shane began firing it and said it was fired about five or six times.