Witness tells court he saw Chakane Scott shoot Asher McGaw
Trial began in Grand Court on Monday morning for Chakane Jameile Scott, who is charged with murdering Asher McGaw in East End last September.
Chakane was 18 at the time and Asher was 21.
Antascio Rankine, who was the Crown’s first witness, was 17 at the time of the incident. He told the court Asher lived across the road from him and was his best friend. He referred to Chakane as CJ and said all three were friends with each other.
He detailed spending the evening of 21 September, 2011, with Asher and CJ. At some point they went to the East End dock and got a flare gun from Antascio’s father’s boat. He said he shot off a flare and after they got back to Antascio’s house on John Mclean Drive, Asher wanted to shoot one off.
They went to the grounds of the East End Clinic so as not to awaken Antascio’s parents. He said Asher shot off the flare gun and right after that he heard a gun shot. He saw the spark, then turned and ran back the way they had come. He said he turned and saw Asher running around the generator room on the clinic grounds and CJ chasing him. He heard two more shots and then saw Asher drop face first. By that time Asher had made it out of the clinic compound, Antascio said.
Then, he continued, he saw CJ run to where Asher was, stand over him and shoot him. After that, he saw CJ run toward Seaview Road. Antascio said he ran to his house. Asked what were his thought, he replied, “I couldn’t think. I was frightened and confused and stupid.”
Asked what caused the confusion, he said, “What I just seen. Why he shoot him for.”
When court adjourned on Monday, Antascio was being cross-examined by defence counsel Sasha Wass, instructed by Lucy Organ. He agreed with her that he did not tell anyone about the shooting until four days later.
The case for the prosecution is conducted by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Trevor Ward, assisted by Crown Counsel Nicole Petit. Justice Alexander Henderson is hearing the matter without a jury, as the defendant elected.
When Mr. Ward opened the case briefly before calling his first witness, he outlined the evidence and explained that at approximately 3am on 22 September two police officers on patrol discovered Asher’s body lying face down 118 feet northwest of the East End Clinic. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, particularly to the head.
Mr. Ward said no forensic evidence linked Chakane to the shooting, but he would be calling evidence to corroborate Antascio’s evidence.
He also noted that the trial was originally set down for three weeks, but a considerable degree of agreement had been reached regarding witness statements that could be read, so he predicted that the trial time would be shorter.
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