A coroner’s inquest jury has found that the 2018 Christmas Day shooting of Darrington Ebanks was an unlawful killing.
During the hour-long inquest on Thursday, 10 March into Ebanks’ death, detectives told the seven-member jury that he was gunned-down minutes after a verbal confrontation.
“From the information we were able to gather, we know that the deceased was sitting under a tree in the vicinity of Fountain Road and King’s Road, when a car with two occupants arrived on the scene,” said Detective Inspector Collins Oremule. “We understand that there was an argument about one of the parties’ girlfriend, then the men left and minutes later Ebanks was shot and killed.”
The autopsy report revealed that Ebanks, 29, was shot twice, once in the leg, and once in the back of the head. It’s not clear where he was shot first; however, pathologist Dr. Shravana Jyoti told the court the shot to the back of the head was at close proximity and killed him instantly.
Suspect walks free
Oremule told the jurors that all the evidence pointed to one suspect, William Isaac Ebanks Romero, who was 21 years old at the time of the shooting.
“He was arrested and interviewed,” said Oremule. “Additional evidence was recovered from his house, such as similar clothing worn by the killer and [William Ebanks] returned a positive sample for gun-powder residue.”
“However, this was not enough to prosecute him,” explained Oremule. “This evidence, although important, was not enough to be sure that he was the killer.”
On 31 May 2019, prosecutors offered no evidence against William Ebanks, and he was discharged.
“The problem we encountered was that no one wanted to give evidence against him,” said Oremule. “So he walked free.”
Unanimous verdict
After a brief deliberation, the jurors returned a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing.
“It is disappointing that another person has lost their life in such a cruel and tragic way,” said Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez, who presided over the inquest.
“What’s worse is that no one has been held accountable for this death.”
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