Two men at scene say they were unable to recognise shooters
Another of the intended victims of attempted murder, José Sanchez, gave evidence on Wednesday in the trial of Raziel Jeffers. José Guadalupe told Justice Charles Quin he did not recognise the two men who came into the West Bay yard where he was sitting on the evening of 7 July, 2009.
As a result of what happened, Marcus Leon Ebanks was fatally shot, Adryan Powell was left paralysed from the waist down and Rodney Aaron Ebanks also received wounds. José and Al Martino (Joe) Bush, who were also in the yard at the time, were not injured.
Jeffers faces one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of an unlicensed firearm. Crown prosecutor Andrew Radcliffe referred to the four complainants in the attempted murder charges as intended victims when he opened the case on Monday. He also said it seemed that José was the principal target of the attack.
Questioned by Mr. Radcliffe, José said he had been in a relationship with a young woman who had been in a relationship with Raziel. When he first started dating her, Raziel was in prison. Asked if he were aware whether Raziel was pleased or otherwise that he was seeing the young woman, José answered, “Not too sure”.
On the night of the shooting, he said, two men came running into the yard and he saw one of them holding what appeared to be a gun. He told Joe, “Watch the guys coming there”. He thought they were hostile because it was unusual to see them running. He was right next to the door of the house and he went inside in a haste. He locked the door and stayed on the floor. He went into the house because “there was a lot of violence going on at the time.”
He said the incident happened too fast for him to get a good look at the men. After the shooting stopped he left the yard with Joseph Hurlston, who lived there. He said Joseph wanted to leave so he got in his car – “I just wanted to get away from the yard.”
Asked about an incident that reportedly occurred between him and Raziel at a bar several months before the shooting, José said he couldn’t really remember.
Questioned by defence attorney Peter Champagnie, he agreed with what he had said in an earlier statement – that he knew Raziel very well: based on Raziel’s size and height it did not appear that he was one of the men shooting at Joseph Hurlston’s yard.
Mr. Hurlston gave his evidence earlier. He said he lived in the yard with his mother and other family members and the concrete wall the guys had been sitting on was part of the foundation for a house he was trying to build.
He told the court his bedroom was added onto his mother’s house and he had a separate entrance. He had just finished eating outside and had gone to his room for a packet of Rizla cigarette papers when he heard a sound like fire rockets.
He looked outside and saw two persons standing with what looked like guns in their hands. Their faces were covered with shirts or something. The yard didn’t have lights – there was a light on the outside of the house but he didn’t know if it was turned on at the time. He saw Rodney drop and Adryan lying in front of his mother’s door. He heard that Marcus took off running, but he never saw him again. He said Joe and José broke down the door trying to get into the house.
Asked about a statement he gave on 21 July, 2009, he said he remembered it. He told the court he and José were at Kelly’s Bar having a drink when Raziel drove up. He and José were talking and then Raziel boxed José in his face. He said José did not fight back, he just left. The witness said he jumped into José’s car, drove down the road and picked him up. His lip was busted ad bleeding and maybe his nose too.
Questioned by Mr. Champagnie, he agreed he smoked ganja, but said he wasn’t smoking when he have that statement. Now 30, he said he had smoked ganja about 16 years.
Referring to the fact that Mr. Hurlston is currently serving a prison sentence, Justice Quin previously asked him, “So you’ve not had any ganja for almost a year?” The witness replied, “I just had a spliff a while ago.”
So far in the trial, the only witness to place Jeffers at the scene of the shooting was Adryan Powell. He agreed that he did not say so in his early statements to police. On Tuesday, his mother told the court that Adryan had named Raziel to her while he was in the hospital in Miami.
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