Two men of Maracas/St Joseph have been convicted of murdering a man while robbing a card game in 2010.
Mickel Sumrah and Massamba Shaka St Prix were found guilty of felony murder at the end of their judge-alone trial before High Court Judge Gail Gonzales yesterday.
Sumrah and St Prix were accused of murdering Quincy De Four on April 24, 2010.
According to evidence, presented by prosecutors during their trial, around 1.15 am, De Four was gambling with five friends near his home at Guaratta Hill, Maracas/St Joseph when Sumrah and St Prix came to rob them.
Sumrah, who was armed with a cutlass, beat the men with it and rob them while St Prix stood guard with a gun.
During the action, St Prix shot De Four twice in the groin.
He ran a short distance before collapsing in a drain.
After Sumrah and St Prix left, De Four was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
An autopsy said he died as a result of blood loss after a bullet perforated his thigh and his scrotum.
Sumrah was arrested two months after the shooting while St Prix was detained two years later.
During the trial before Gonzales, prosecutors relied on statements Sumrah allegedly gave police after his arrest and on the evidence of De Four’s friends, who survived the attack.
However, the alleged eyewitnesses did not testify and were not cross-examined as prosecutors made a successful application to use their statements and depositions from the preliminary inquiry because they expressed fear over appearing in the trial.
In defence of the case, Sumrah claimed that he was framed by police while St Prix provided an alibi.
Although the evidence showed that St Prix fired that fatal shots, both men were prosecuted for murder under joint enterprise.
Gonzales eventually found them guilty of the lesser offence of felony murder.
Under the felony murder rule, the mandatory death penalty for murder is waived in circumstances where death occurs during the commission of a lesser criminal offence, which in most cases is robbery.
The duo is expected to be sentenced later this month.
Sumrah was represented by Odai Ramischand and Arif Rahaman while St Prix was represented by Robert Vincent Charles and Danielle Rampersad.
Stacy Laloo-Chong and Kezia Gray-Birkette prosecuted.