Evidence begins against 6 cops in 2011 Moruga murder case

THREE friends killed in a hail of police gunfire in Barrackpore in 2011 were possibly unintended targets.

On July 22, 2011, best friends Abigail Johnson, 20, of St Mary’s Village, Moruga, Alana Duncan, 27, of Duncan Village, San Fernando, and construction worker Kerron “Fingers” Eccles, 29, also of St Mary’s Village, were gunned down by police.

Six police officers – Sgt Khemraj Sahadeo and PCs Renaldo Reviero, Glenn Singh, Roger Nicholas, Safraz Juman, Antonio Ramadin – are accused of murdering them.

On Tuesday, lead prosecutor Gilbert Peterson,SC, addressed the jury with his opening statement, which gave a brief synopsis of the evidence the State intends to lead from witnesses. Not all of the prosecution’s evidence will come in the form of testimony from witnesses. Some will be in the form of certificates, statements and video footage, he said.

“Assess the evidence fairly...

“Your duty is to determine the facts in this case. It is the duty of the State to prove to you so you feel sure of the guilt of each person.”

He introduced the six men, who sat in the prisoners’ box in one of the courtrooms at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, as police officers who were sworn to protect and serve.

The case was transferred from the San Fernando High Court after the defence complained that it could not be held at any of the new court facilities introduced by the Judiciary during the covid19 pandemic, since those were not provided for by law.

In June, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, agreed to the defence’s request to have the case tried in Port of Spain. Jurors were selected on Monday, and evidence began yesterday. Justice Carla Brown-Antoine is presiding.

Peterson said the three friends died of multiple gunshot wounds.

“You have to determine how these wounds were inflicted,” he told the 12 jurors and five alternates. Before the trial began, one of the jurors on the main panel was discharged because of work commitments.

Peterson said the events of July 22, 2011, began with phone calls from two senior officers to one of the six officers.

“From that conversation, events began to unfold.”

These events, he later explained, all surrounded a man by the name of Shumba James. He said the senior officers related that the police were “building a case" around James, who was allegedly wanted for three murders and possession of an illegal firearm.

Peterson said it was “interestingly curious” what happened to James that night.

James, he said, was no altar boy and was known to the police. He had a pending charge before the court which required him to report to the police station three days a week as part of his bail conditions. One of those days was a Friday, and on July 22, 2011, he did so minutes before 6 pm. He drove a white B15, and was with Duncan, who was his girlfriend at the time. The car belonged to James’s brother.

“Then it gets interesting,” Peterson said.

After leaving the St Mary’s police post in Moruga, the couple went to a bar. While there, Duncan called Johnson to meet them, as she lived close by.

Peterson said James would testify that at that bar, the electrical breaker kept going off, so they went to another bar, Goodtimes Bar, also close by. James and Eccles spoke by phone, and the three friends went to a third bar, Little Havana, where they met Eccles. Duncan drove and when all four got together, they decided to go to Barrackpore for barbecue.

On the way to Barrackpore, the four returned to the Goodtimes Bar, where James caught up with two friends from the village, Peterson said.

James joined the other two men in their car, while Duncan, Johnson and Eccles followed in the white B15.

In Barrackpore, James’s two friends will testify that they saw two police vehicles parked in the carpark of Singh’s Auto and a number of police officers, armed with guns, were outside the two cars.

Peterson said one of the men heard someone say, “Look the vehicle,” and James looked back, and saw the officers move towards his brother’s white B15 and heard loud explosions.

Peterson said guns were pointed at the B15 and the explosions continued until the car crawled to a stop.

He said a witness will testify that he was waiting for an order of barbecue when he saw the police park up in the auto place carpark just before the B15 drove past and all the police officers got out their vehicles and started to run to the car, with someone saying, “Shumba, you dead tonight.”

The shooting stopped and then the witness, who was not identified by name, said they heard someone shouting, “Stop shooting. I coming out the car.” A third voice was heard saying, "Shoot again,” and the police started shooting at one of the women until she lay flat on the ground. This, Peterson said, will be the testimony of that witness.

Peterson referred to the autopsy reports on the three victims and also said there will be testimony from officers who signed off on the weapons assigned to the accused officers, which included several pistols, Galil rifles, an M5 rifle, and a shotgun.

Testifying were three relatives of the three friends, and the police photographer who took photographs of the crime scene at the corner of Rochard Douglas Road and Gunness Trace in Barrackpore a month after the incident.

The six police officers are represented by Senior Counsel Israel Khan, Ulric Skerritt and Arissa Maharaj.

Also appearing for the State are Elaine Greene and Giselle Ferguson-Heller.

The trial continues on Wednesday.