Laventille man freed of murder charge

The State was yesterday unable to prove that a man accused of murder had participated in the fatal shooting of a Gonzales, Belmont resident and as a result, the charge against the accused was dismissed. Shondell Riley, of Rose Hill, East Dry River, Laventille, walked down the steps of the Hall of Justice and through Woodford Square a free man. He was discharged after State attorney Cheron Raphael, on the instructions of DPP Geoffery Henderson, conceded to the no-case submission made by defence attorney Wayne Sturge. Before discharging Riley, presiding judge, Madame Justice Alice Yorke Soo Hon, told the jury that the State had fallen short of proving joint enterprise — that the accused had participated in a plot to murder.

According to Soo Hon, although the State had proven that Riley was on the scene, it had been unable to prove that he was armed. “The court has a duty to direct you to return a not guilty verdict because legal requirements have not been met,” Soo Hon told the jury. “You have no choice but to follow my directions, no matter how you may feel,” she added. Thirty-year-old Riley was before Soo Hon charged with the murder of Jamal “Brother” Jerome.  Jerome was shot dead at his home on Gonzales Street, Gonzales, Belmont, in the wee hours of the morning of April 18, 2003.

The State’s case was that two men had “ripped open” the door of one of the apartments in the house, shot Jerome dead, and shot his teenaged cousin in her abdomen and hand, before fleeing the scene. Several of Jerome’s relatives, including the wounded teenager, gave evidence against Riley. According to the young woman, her cousin had shouted the name “Shondell” or “Blondell” as he was being gunned down. Her mother, Petra Jerome, testified that she had heard “Blondell.” Jerome’s sister Farlon Jerome, who testified that two men had peeked into her apartment moments before the shooting, said she knew one of the assailants as “Scabby,” a friend of her mother’s.  On May 22, she said, she had pointed out Riley during an ID parade as the other man who had been at her home on the fateful night.