Man pleads guilty to killing father

A San Juan man charged with the murder of his father has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Jody Walker was before Justice Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo in the Port of Spain High Court, where he was expected to go on trial for his father’s murder. A jury was empanelled and the State was expected to lead evidence today.

Instead, the lesser charge was accepted after defence attorneys Stephen Wilson and Keishel Grant wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions detailing a psychiatric assessment of Walker after his arrest, in which he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Walker, who was a student at COSTAATT at the time, was accused of killing his father, Winston, at their home on Persad Lane, on September 15, 2009.

Winston Walker, 50, an employee at the Ministry of Works, was stabbed after returning from his mother’s funeral. A bloodstained knife was seized at the scene, and a male relative was arrested.

The younger Walker will return to court on November 27 for sentencing.

At yesterday's hearing, he pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty of manslaughter.