BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THREE young men from Cayon were reunited with their families yesterday (July 13) after they were absolved of the two murder and relative charges brought against them.
Twenty-year-old twin brothers Torday and Torquel Burroughs, along with Akil Anthony (20), all of Cunningham Village, Cayon, were accused of committing the November 30, 2008 murders of Desroy ‘Shootout’ Walwyn and Travon ‘Waxy’ Francis as well as the malicious wounding of Bernell Brandy, Maverick Browne, Junior Richards, Meisha Hanley and Travis Natta.
According to a report carried previously by SKNVibes, the incident occurred at Dunns Cottage, Cayon, in the vicinity of Henry’s Night Spot, Disco, Bar and Restaurant where two masked gunmen, dressed in dark clothing opened fire killing Walwyn and Francis while wounding the others.
The Burroughs brothers and Anthony were formally charged on December 8, 2008 with their Preliminary Inquiry (PI) beginning earlier this year.
Defence counsel for the brothers, Chesley Hamilton, in speaking with SKNVibes explained that the PI began in either April or May and yesterday “no case submissions” were filed by himself as defence counsel for the twins and Hesketh Benjamin as counsel for Anthony, which were upheld and led to the men being freed.
“I made a no case submission yesterday along with learned counsel Benjamin. The Magistrate asked the prosecution if they would like some assistance from the DPP’s office and she adjourned court for the DPP to assist. The DPP came today and gave her assistance to the court. At the end of the matter, the no case submission was upheld and all three accused were set free.
“The no case submission was based on a lack of evidence against the three. There was no evidence upon which anyone could convict. There was no evidence at all pointing to the three men; there was no evidence putting them on the scene, putting them going to the scene, putting them coming from scene.”
The men spoke with SKNVibes and said they “feel good” and are “glad” that they were freed of the charges. Anthony expressed thanks “to the Father” for his release and offered a bit of advice to the youths. “Be wise and analyze,” he encouraged. He said the release is extra special for him as it falls on his 20th birthday.
Hamilton said the win is bitter sweet for him because at the end of the day, lives were lost. He however noted that one injustice does not erase another.
“This is just another chapter in the sad saga of what went down in Cayon last November. Two persons lost their life. In fact, one of them is related to me. So, therefore, there is no joy here but one injustice cannot amount to another one and it would have been an even sadder chapter in Cayon if three men who were not responsible for an offence were asked to face a trial and lose more time and energy and effort trying to defend themselves for something they didn’t do. So, justice was served today and let’s hopes that the people who are responsible for this offence, one day the police will be able to uncover and find out who did it and they themselves would be brought to justice.”
Counsel offered condolences to the family of the latest murder victim, Randy Daniels.
“My heart still goes out to the families and the people who got injured. Sadly I wasn’t here but I know it had to be a traumatic time in my hometown of Cayon. The last killing was in Cayon and Randy was a client of mine and I offer my condolences to the family, and I hope that sometime soon we can begin the process of healing in my hometown of Cayon and we will rise from some of these tragedies to better times.”
