BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young man, charged with causing death by dangerous driving, appeared Wednesday (May 18) at the Basseterre High Court and told His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas that he was not the driver of the vehicle.
Devon Williams of Sandy Point, who also resides at St. Johnston Village, told the court that he was not the driver of the car that struck and killed Keith Brombill on August 11, 2009.
The incident occurred on the Island’s Main Road in Sandy Point.
According to previous reports carried by this media house, Brombill was struck by a motorcar bearing registration number R173 which was first reported to be driven by Jevon Allen of Old Road.
Brombill was pronounced dead on the scene.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the prosecution team, led by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Paulina Hendrickson, called on 13 witnesses to give evidence in support of its claim, while Williams was self-represented.
After the prosecution rested its case, Williams chose to give evidence under oath, in which he said that he was not driving the vehicle that killed Brombill and injured another. His testimony, however, contradicted his original statement given to the investigating officer, Constable Orlando Hughes.
According to Williams’ original statement, he was the driver of the vehicle on the day of the incident.
In the statement, Williams said he had entered Sandy Point and drove down into Crab Hill with Jevon Allen in the front passenger’s seat and Mickhale Kelly seated in the rear of the vehicle.
It also stated that just as he was about to reach some cones on the road, he stopped the vehicle because another one was coming from the opposite direction.
After the vehicle had passed, he proceeded in the direction he was going, but looked to the rear of the car he was driving to say something to Kelly. However, when he resumed his original position, he saw a man in front of the vehicle by did not see anyone in the manhole.
He said the car apparently struck a man who was coming out of the manhole and also the person who was in front of the vehicle.
Williams also said in the statement that he stopped the vehicle and exchanged seats with Allen but could not remember disembarking.
He also said that Allen drove the vehicle back onto the Island’s Main Road.
However, while cross questioning him, the DPP said to Williams, “You told the police you were the driver and now you’re coming with a different story.”
After his testimony, the court was in recess because Williams wanted to call Allen as a witness.
However, on resumption, the court was told that Allen was not found and this led the prosecution to reopen its case and recalled Sergeant Jerome Benjamin to the stand.
Benjamin revealed startling evidence, noting that after Williams had given his original statement, he told the police that the reason he confessed to driving the vehicle at the time was because he was being threatened and was scared.
Justice Thomas is expected to make his summation on Monday (May 23), which will be followed by the jury’s deliberation.
Originally, all three persons in the vehicle were charged with causing death by dangerous driving. However, after the preliminary inquiry, the charges against Kelly and Allen were dropped.
Early police reports had also stated that Allen was the driver of the motorcar and the three men had fled the scene in that vehicle in an attempt to avoid the authorities.
