NASSAU- Prosecutors have charged a man with arson in connection with a fire that caused $8,000 in damage to Bethel Baptist Church on July 7.
Trey Patrick Bastian, 22, was denied bail on the arson charge when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt yesterday.
Prosecutors intend to fast track his case to the Supreme Court with a voluntary bill of indictment.
Bastian will return to court on December 2. He will remain in custody unless he’s granted bail by a Supreme Court judge.
NASSAU- Police have charged a man with murder after he allegedly stabbed a 54-year-old man.
Rashad Stubbs, 24, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with the murder of Dwayne Cargill, who was found dead on Pine Barren Road on June 28.
Stubbs was not required to enter a plea to the charge and was denied bail.
He did not have a lawyer and returns to court on December 2.
A Pinewood Gardens man now faces seven murder charges.
Cartwright, 25, of Avocado Street, is accused of the murders of Ashlee Hilton and her fiancé George Deveaux on December 3, 2018.
The couple were shot in an ambush on the grounds of Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, where Deveaux was receiving physical therapy after he was shot in the leg.
On June 29, 2019, Cartwright and others allegedly gunned down Ian “Irie” Porter and Raymond “Magic” Adderley outside Porter’s home in Star Estates.
Then, on October 20, 2019, Cartwright allegedly took part in the murder of Anniko Strachan at Kennedy Subdivision.
Cartwright is charged along with Patreco Ramsey, Marquin Williams, and Dondre Williams in Strachan’s murder.
They were not required to enter pleas to the charges when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt today.
Bail was denied and they return to court on November 29.
Dondre Williams is also accused of the December 3, 2020 murder of Alfred “Half Man” Bastian and conspiring with others to cause his death.
Bastian was shot dead at his home in Cooper’s Terrace area. Williams’ next court date for that case is also November 29.
NASSAU- The country’s latest murder victim was killed at a car wash, just like his brother four years earlier.
A lone gunman fatally shot Michael Thompson Jr at a car wash on East Street opposite Coconut Grove Avenue around 6:30pm Sunday.
Police said Thompson and others were at the car wash when the killer arrived in a small dark car.
A lone gunman exited the vehicle and fired multiple shots, killing Thompson before he fled in the same vehicle.
Thompson’s younger brother, Patrick “Pitter” Thompson, met a similar fate in 2017.
On April 21, as Thompson stood in front of the car wash on Market Street near Palm Tree Avenue, he was gunned down by the occupants of a dark vehicle.
Police charged four men in connection with the murder and they are on bail awaiting trial.
NASSAU- Chilling surveillance camera footage captured a murder victim’s final moments.
Turan Taylor, 34, was gunned down in Sunset Park shortly before 7am on Saturday.
The CCTV footage shows Taylor about to enter his vehicle as a dark blue car passes.
Taylor then breaks off running with two gunmen in pursuit. One of the gunmen slams Taylor’s car door shut as they chase him down and shoot him.
One of the gunmen stands over Taylor and shoots him, while his accomplice races back to the same car that had passed Taylor. The second shooter runs back to the getaway, which speeds off.
Police have asked anyone with information about the murder to contact them on 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers on 328-8477.
NASSAU-Police are investigating a shooting at Arawak Cay that left a man dead.
The incident happened shortly before 10pm Sunday night.
Police said a man confronted the victim, produced a handgun and shot him multiple times and fled the scene.
The gunshot victim was still alert when police arrived on the scene. He was taken to hospital, where he died a short time later.
GRAND BAHAMA – A pedestrian was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver Sunday night in Grand Bahama.
The incident happened in the Pinedale area of Eight Mile Rock around 10pm.
Officers sent to the scene found the man unresponsive in the street. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.
The unidentified man was walking on the side of the road when he was struck by a light-colored car, whose driver fled the scene.
NASSAU- A man and his nephew lost their lives to gun violence just two months apart —both innocent victims of a long-standing feud.
Sario Stuart, 23, was found shot to death in front of an apartment on Berkeley Street in Ridgeland Park around 9pm Saturday.
His family was still mourning the loss of Stuart’s nephew, Lavonne Dawkins, who was gunned down on May 14 through Second Street, Coconut Grove.
Dawkins was standing in front of a home with friends when gunmen exited a car and opened fire.
Dawkins and Akeem Davis died as a result of the shooting and two other men were injured.
NASSAU- Self-styled activist Omar Archer is still facing up to two years in prison after the Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the criminal libel law.
Archer was arrested in 2015 over a post on his Facebook page in which he claimed someone had AIDS.
Archer’s legal team have argued that the law violates the right to freedom of expression. They also say that defamation is a civil wrong, and offenders shouldn’t have to face the possibility of prison time.
But a civil remedy would be of little benefit, if the defendant in a civil suit lacks the means to pay.
Court of Appeal President Sir Michael said: “We live in an era when social media permits the most false, scandalous and defamatory of allegations to be made and then distributed and published widely in a matter of minutes or indeed seconds.
“Where these allegations are calculated and intended to destroy the reputations of persons, the criminal law must be able to provide a sanction rather than leave a victim to a civil claim for damages which may be worthless.”
Archer challenged the constitutionality of the criminal libel after he was called upon to present a defense in his case.
The prosecution has presented medical evidence that showed Archer’s claim was a malicious lie.
Archer broke both legs in May 2015 when he jumped from a window of the South Street Magistrates’ Complex while evading arrest for the same matter.
Basil Cumberbatch and Franklyn Williams appeared for the Crown.
Fred Smith QC represented Archer.
NASSAU- Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell said Monday that he was embarrassed and hurt by a voice note that accused him of impregnating his alleged sweetheart’s daughter.
Campbell branded the claim as a “malicious lie” during his testimony against Capprio Saunders, the beach vendor accused of posting the now viral voice note in the WhatsApp group Voice Your Opinion.
Saunders, who is on $3,500 bail, could face up to two years’ imprisonment if convicted.
In the voice note, Saunders refers to Campbell’s Haitian heritage and says, “What you expect? You know Haitians is go with their own daughters first, right?”
Campbell said, “I was most appalled, as the father of three beautiful daughters, and the grandfather of the most beautiful granddaughter, at the suggestion that I could have sex with them.”
As a result of the malicious claims, Campbell said that he had become the butt of many jokes, causing him embarrassment.
Defense lawyer Maria Daxon argued that Saunders did not state the claims as fact because she had used word “alleged.”
Additionally, Daxon said that Saunders also asked, “Is that true?”
Campbell replied, “She could have said alleged one million times. It’s beyond alleged once she said I’m not surprised.”
As Campbell’s wife sat in the court, Daxon asked him, “Could you tell this honorable court, did you ever have any extramarital affairs?”
Magistrate Samuel McKinney advised Campbell not to answer.
Daxon pressed on. She asked, “Mr Campbell, you said you have three beautiful daughters. Could you tell the court if you have a son?”
Campbell said that he did.
Daxon asked, “Could you tell the court who you have this son with?”
The prosecutor, ASP Clifford Daxon, objected.
Daxon, the defense lawyer, said that Campbell had lied by telling the court he had three daughters.
But Campbell said that he mentioned his daughters because of the claim in the voice note that “Haitians go with their daughters.”
Daxon asked, “Do you have a sweetheart, sir.”
The magistrate intervened and said he would not allow the defense to “go on a fishing expedition.”
McKinney said, “This is a trial.”
As a result, Daxon discontinued her cross-examination.
The trial continues on August 4.
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