Jury finds St Andrew man not guilty of murder

Hugs and tears were abundant among the family of Kevin Andrew Haynes in Supreme Court No.5A on Wednesday afternoon after a jury found him not guilty of murder.

After Justice Christopher Birch summed up the trial in which Haynes was accused of murdering Rahim Ward between August 23 and 30, 2019, the jury went to deliberate around 3:23 p.m.

An hour later, they returned and the foreman informed the judge they had reached a unanimous not-guilty verdict.

Haynes, of Jordan’s Road, Belleplaine, St Andrew, represented by attorney-at-law Ajamu Boardi had maintained his innocence.

During the trial, 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 last 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.

After the verdict was delivered, Haynes who was sitting in the dock turned to his defence lawyer and they nodded at each other and smiled. He then turned to his family, sitting at the back of the courtroom who by then were sobbing.

“Mr Haynes . . . you are free to go,” Justice Birch announced after Acting Principal State Counsel Romario Straker thanked the jury for their service.

Haynes then embraced his mother, father and sister before exiting the court.

“I feel good, man. I feel good to be free,” the young man told Barbados TODAY on the steps of the Supreme Court on Whitepark Road with his family surrounding him.

His lawyer said: “It feels great. It’s good to see him go home after five years on remand; the evidence was always poor.” 

fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb