Jury to get case in St Andrew man’s murder trial

Justice Christopher Birch is to deliver his summation in the trial of murder accused Kevin Andrew Haynes next Wednesday before handing the case over to the jury.

The judge set the August 7 date after Acting Principal State Counsel Romario Straker and defence counsel Ajamu Boardi made closing arguments to the 12-member jury on Friday in Supreme Court No. 5A.

Haynes, of Jordan’s Road, Belleplaine, St Andrew is accused of murdering Rahim Ward between August 23 and 30, 2019, a charge he has denied.

The court heard that Ward was last seen on August 23 that year and was subsequently discovered in a shallow grave seven days later.

The autopsy conducted on his decomposing body concluded that he died from a gunshot wound.

Speaking in his defence on Wednesday, Haynes said: “I wasn’t involved in any shooting or no killing or nothing.”  He insisted that he had been “intimidated” by the police who “beat” him while he was in custody. He alleged that he was also choked and suffocated with insect spray.