Witness holds firm he saw defendant

Questioned by attorneys for defendant Raziel Jeffers, witness Adryan Powell maintained on Tuesday he saw Jeffers with a gun when Marcus Ebanks was fatally shot and he himself was seriously wounded on the evening of 8 July, 2009. 

Adryan, now 17, agreed he did not name Raziel when he first gave statements to police. He told the court he was “100 per cent sure” the man he saw was Raziel, but he didn’t say so because he was afraid. 

Defence attorney Peter Champagnie asked why Adryan was identifying Raziel now, two and a half years later. 

The teen replied, “When I found out Marcus was dead and I was paralysed for the rest of my life, I never cared no more. I came forward.” 

Mr. Champagnie suggested he was not a witness of truth, but Adryan said he had no reason to lie. “Why would I put an innocent man in jail for what happened to me and Marcus and Rodney?” he asked. 

Rodney Aaron Ebanks was the third of three people shot after two gunmen entered a yard off Bonaventure Road in West Bay sometime after 7.30pm.  

Adryan said after the two gunmen ran off and he was lying on the ground, he called out to Rodney. He said he wanted to know if Rodney knew who the guys were. “I wanted to know if he seen what I seen.”  

Mr. Champagnie suggested Adryan was really inquiring because he did not know; he pointed out that none of Adryan’s statements to police mentioned his query to Rodney.  

“I wasn’t asked,” Adryan replied. 

It was suggested that Adryan could not have seen the face of the gunman five or six feet away if Adryan were lying on his stomach looking up – that it was impossible.  

“I’m 100 per cent sure it was Raziel Jeffers,” Adryan replied. 

Questioned by Justice Charles Quin, who is hearing the matter without a jury as Jeffers chose, Adryan said he did play in a football tournament against Jeffers. He said he was going to be on the same team, but because the other players were big men he thought he wouldn’t get a chance to play, so he went to another team. He said he watched Raziel play. This related to his evidence the day before that he recognised the way Raziel ran. 

Adryan’s mother, Tammy Tibbetts, gave evidence about her son’s condition as she stayed with him in the hospital. She said she did permit him to be questioned on 9 and 11 July, 2009, but he was sleepy and the officers had to keep touching him to wake him. He could not sign his name. By 15 July, when he gave another statement, he was better – awake, alert and playing video games. 

Rodney Ebanks also gave evidence on Tuesday. He said he saw two men standing in the yard. One was in full black and the other wore a white T-shirt with a design on it and a red bandana over his face. The one in the white shirt raised his right hand and fire a gun. The one in the white shirt was 6 feet tall, the other about 5’8”. He said he was shot in the right hip, left shin and right index finger. 

He said Adryan asked him who it was because they shot him. He said he didn’t know how Adryan meant the question; it could have been many ways; it could have been to see if Rodney knew.