BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - "I was not at East Park Range on the morning of April 19, 2012. I was not on Park Street either. I did not shoot Jermaine Browne." These claims are of the 17-year-old Fort Thomas Road resident who is on trial for murder.
The juvenile made the statement while testifying last week in an effort to maintain his innocence.
He is accused of murdering 28-year-old Jermaine Browne on April 19, 2012 at East Park Range, but the accused, in his testimony, stressed that he was nowhere near the scene on that fateful morning.
He said he was at home on that day and did not leave there until 7:00 a.m. when the police officers came and took him along with five other men to the Basseterre Police Station, where he remained in the Recreation Room for a number of hours.
The juvenile said a member of the police force, whom he identified as “Officer Morton”, took him from the Recreation Room around 2:00 p.m. to the Criminal Investigation Office where he was questioned in the presence of a Lieutenant from the Salvation Army.
He then testified that he was taken to the Station's parking lot before going to the Magistrate's Court from where he was remanded to Her Majesty's Prison.
The juvenile was asked, during cross examination, with whom he lived, to which he replied with five other young males in a house in Mc Knight for the past three years.
He was also asked if his residence had a name, and he replied in the negative.
The accused also told the Court that he had never heard the term "KMS", did not know what it represented and had never heard anyone refer to a house in Mc Knight as the "KMS house".
When questioned about him being at East Park Range on the morning of the shooting, the juvenile said 2009 was the last time he was in that area during his attendance at the Basseterre High School as a student.
He also claimed not to know who Eric Thompson was and denied knowing where he lived or being at his house a few weeks prior to the murder.
It was put to him that he indeed knew Thompson and was on his verandah on the day Trevor Browne said he was there.
He replied, "I do not know about that time period. I was never at his house. I do not know where he lives".
The accused was also questioned about wearing a Dickies-type shirt, to which he replied that he does not favour the brand and while he wears the brand's trousers from time to time, he has never worn its shirt.
When asked, the juvenile said he knew the deceased because he had worked with him in 2008 and that they always had a friendly relationship.
The juvenile was represented by Attorney-at-Law Chesley Hamilton while was led by Acting Director of Public Prosecution Rhonda Nisbett-Browne.