BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PROSECUTION witness Justin Stevens, who resided with his mother, stepfather and twin brother in the home where Stancia Lake was killed, said that everyone was in shock and frightened when she was shot.
The manslaughter trial began yesterday (June 27) where the prosecution alleged that Razba Matthew shot and killed 14-year-old Stancia Lake on August 8, 2009 at a home located at the corner of Wigley Avenue and Cayon Street.
Stevens told the court that Lake had just finished plaiting the accused hair and was plaiting his when she was shot.
He said he was seated on the floor and she sat directly behind him on the edge of the bed, and was startled when he heard the sound of gunfire.
“I felt Stancia ease over on me and when I turned around she was falling and I saw blood,” he said.
Stevens said he jumped up and removed his shoes, which was next to Lake, and ran to the bathroom to wash the blood off of them.
Stevens told the court that on his return he saw Lake laying on the floor and his brother and a friend went into the house to inquire what happened.
The witness said that at the time of the incident the accused was sitting by a window that faced Millionaire Street.
He said that his mother was the one who called the police.
Stevens also said that the accused had left the house and he was sitting in a chair crying while everyone was in shock and frightened.
During the cross-examination by counsel for the accused Attorney-At-Law Marsha Henderson, it was revealed that Matthew was seated about five to six feet away from the deceased in a chair by the window facing Millionaire Street.
Stevens said that when the shot was fired it echoed and he was unable to say exactly where it came from.
It was also revealed that Matthew told him he did not see anyone.
Stevens said that the accused ran to the back of the yard and it seemed as if he were looking for someone.
The next witness called by the prosecution team, which is led by Director of Public Prosecution Paulina Hendrickson, was Stevens’ twin brother Jason.
Jason described the accused as a close friend at the time of the incident and said that the deceased came by the house to plait his brother’s hair.
He said that around the time of the incident a motorcade was passing and he and his friend Amare Buchanan were on the outside watching the procession.
Jason told the court that he went into the house after watching the motorcade and saw Lake laying on the floor in the bedroom.
He said he saw Matthew go to the back door and returned but left the home before his mother arrived.
Jason also said that Buchanan ran from the home and did not return, and that the accused seemed afraid as his brother who was crying.
Henderson asked the witness if he had heard anyone say anything when he went inside the house, to which he said he heard someone that sounded like the accused say, “Somebody just try throw me een.”
The witness said it means “someone just tried to kill me” in street talk.
The fifth out of the ten prosecution witnesses was Amare Buchanan, a friend of the Stevens brothers.
Buchanan said he and Jason were on the outside watching the motorcade on the Island’s Main Road and after approximately two minutes Jason went back into the house.
He said that a lot of loud music was playing during the motorcade, and after it passed he heard Justin saying, “Call the police.”
Buchanan said he saw Justin run inside the bathroom and that Jason was in the kitchen holding his head.
The witness said when he opened the door that led to the bedroom he saw Lake’s body on the floor but he did not see the accused at that time.
Buchanan said he was scared and he ran through the front gate into Millionaire Street and washed his hands by a pipe.
He said at that point he realised he had forgotten his shirt and shoes and went back to get them.
The witness said that he went through the back gate and saw Jason spinning around in the backyard, and he picked up his shirt and shoes and went home.
Buchanan said that prior to the incident the accused was in the bedroom with Lake, but after she was shot he did not see him.
Counsel for the defence told Buchanan that when he went inside the house it was the accused he had seen in the kitchen and not Jason, but the witness insisted that it was Jason.
Henderson reminded Buchanan of the statement he gave to the police in which he said he saw Matthew in the kitchen and not Jason. To this, Buchanan said he was unsure of who he saw.
Buchanan who said the bottom window in the bedroom upon which Matthew sat was closed, was told by the defence counsel that it was open, but the witness insisted that it was unopened.
The prosecution also called on the twins’ stepfather and their mother Patricia Stevens to give evidence.
The mother told the court that when Lake was shot she had just returned from town and was walking through the back gate because of the motorcade when she saw Jason and Buchanan in the yard crying.
She said Justin was in a long chair inside the house crying and she saw a young lady lying on the floor face down.
Stevens said she did not see the accused.
She told the court that she panicked and had called 911 but did not get through. She subsequently called a police officer whose cell number she had.
She told the court she did not see Matthew while there.
Defence counsel told the mother that in a previous statement to the police she said that she did see the accused after Lake was shot.
The woman said she had made a mistake and maintained that she did not see the accused.
The eighth witness that took the stand was Corporal Avalon Anthony, the police officer whose cell phone the twins’ mother had called to report the incident.
Anthony said he received a call from Stevens at about 4:55 p.m. and he had observed that she was crying.
He said he arrived on the scene with another officer and that a search was conducted and one spent shell was found in a clothes closet in another room.
He said while there, Lake’s mother had arrived and also Dr. Mervyn Laws.
Corporal Anthony said that after receiving certain information he spoke with the accused on August 13, 2009.
At that stage of the trial, the defence counsel said that she would like to make a submission in the absence of the jury on the remainder of Anthony’s testimony.
His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas adjourned the trial until tomorrow.
