BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER being locked away for more than nine months at Her Majesty’s Prison with murder and attempted murder charges hanging over their heads, two young men on Tuesday (Mar. 27) walked out of the Basseterre Magistrate’s Court freed of all charges.
The two young men, Kai Cabey and Raheem Crossley, both of Fort Thomas Road, were jointly charged with the Tuesday, May 24, 2011 shooting-death of 17-year-old Kelvin ‘Boopie’ Hazel and the attempted murder of Elron Wilkinson.
Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department had arrested and charged them at 12:25 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2011, and two days later they appeared before a city magistrate who remanded them to prison.
On Tuesday (Mar. 27), the two men, after exiting the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial and Legal Services Complex, were seen with their lawyer Chesley Hamilton at the Independence Square with what seemed to be relief written on their faces.
They did not comment on the case, but SKNVibes learned that there was no substantial evidence to warrant their conviction and a no case submission was made by Hamilton, which was upheld by Her Worship Simone Bullen-Thompson.
Cabey and Crossley had allegedly gunned down Hazel in a street near to his home in Pine Garden, Shadwell and allegedly shot Wilkinson while he was attempting to escape from them.
The incidents occurred at approximately 8:15 p.m. and this publication learned that that shortly after playing a game of basketball on the street, Hazel and Wilkinson were hanging out with a group of young men when two masked gunmen suddenly appeared from behind a building and started shooting at them.
Residents indicated that Wilkinson ran through the back door of a nearby house where a party was in progress and exited through the front. However, on exiting, one of the gunmen shot him and fled the scene.
Hazel, on the other hand, ran towards the direction of his home but did not make it to safety.
One individual claimed that the gunmen were firing shot indiscriminatingly and one bullet had entered a resident’s home after penetrating one of the aluminum panes of a window.
This information was confirmed as officers of the CID and the Crime Scene Department were seen examining the strike and entering the building.
At that time, Hazel’s death was the 12 murder recorded in the twin-island Federation for the year; 11 on St. Kitts and one on Nevis.
