Cayman Compass - 30 September, 2022

cayman compass Your most trusted news source Established 1965 $1 | Funding local journalism | Weekly 30 September - 6 October 2022 EASTERN AVENUE TM & © 2021 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. Hello Family. Meals. 8PC 12PC 16PC 1 Lg Side 4 Biscuits 2 Lg Side 6 Biscuits 3 Lg Side 8 Biscuits Hello Family. Meals. PC $375 2L pepsi or pepsi product Sideswiped by Ian As Florida deals with devastation, Cayman asks are we ready for the big one? Pages 5-8, 22-24 Photo: Taneos RamsayFIND US ONLINE Caymancompass.com Facebook.com/Caycompass cayman_compass@cayCompassCayman Compass PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Cayman Compass Ltd. Compass Centre, Shedden Road, George Town, Cayman Islands SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman, KY1-1108 Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@compassmedia.ky ADVERTISE WITH US: T: (345) 949-5111 E: sales@compassmedia.ky W: caymancompass.com NEWS EDITOR CAROLINE JAMES BUSINESS EDITOR MICHAEL KLEIN ISSUES EDITOR JAMES WHITTAKER LIVING EDITOR VICKI WHEATON HEAD OF SALES CHERYL BIRCHGILLIES weather Friday Forecast FORECAST Partly cloudy skies with a 40% chance of showers. SEA STATE Smooth with a wave height of fewer than 2 feet. WINDS East to southeast at 10 to 15 knots. 90°F HIGH 76°F LOW Security council to meet on gun crime The National Security Council will meet on 4 Oct. following an increase in gun crime on island. Roper, speaking on the Cayman Compass weekly talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’ on 28 Sept., said that the council was seriously concerned about the level of gun-related incidents here. In spite of this, he said Cayman remains one of the safest regions in the Caribbean. One of the tools police have used in the past during escalations in the use of firearms in Cayman is a gun amnesty, where people can hand in their guns without facing a penalty for having no licence for them. But, Roper said gun amnesties have not proved to be especially effective. “You tend to get handed in some guns that are sort of old and people just want to get rid of them. There isn’t a good track record of gun amnesties actually working,” he said. Three shooting reports in one night Police are investigating three reports of shootings in a single night last weekend, including one in which a man was suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The man was critically injured in the shooting, which occurred around 4am, said police, who had responded to a report of shots being ﬁ red from vehicles on West Bay Road, near Lime Tree Bay in West Bay. He was taken in a white Honda sedan to hospital, where he was treated for “several life-threatening- injuries as a result of gunshot wounds”, police said. A few hours earlier, a driver who tried to ﬂ ee the scene of a trafﬁ c accident, threatened a police ofﬁ cer with a gun. That incident occurred shortly after 10:50pm Friday, when ofﬁ cers were dispatched to a report of a two-vehicle collision on Shamrock Road in Prospect. Police found that the driver of one of the vehicles had sustained injuries, but the other driver had ﬂ ed. “When the ofﬁ cer stopped the man, he pointed a ﬁ rearm at the ofﬁ cer, causing the ofﬁ cer to retreat for his own safety,” the RCIPS said in a statement. No shots were ﬁ red. Firearm Response Unit ofﬁ cers searched for the man, but did not ﬁ nd him, police said. The third incident occurred around 1:10am Saturday, when police responded to a report of possible shots ﬁ red on Seaview Road, near Fiddler’s Way, in East End. When they arrived, Firearm Response Unit ofﬁ cers spoke with several people who said they had not witnessed or heard any shots. Searches were conducted in the area and nothing suspicious was seen or found, police said. Lionﬁ sh tournament planned for this weekend Cayman United Lionﬁ sh League, known as CULL, will hold its 35th tournament this weekend, 1 and 2 Oct. Divers using specially licensed trident spears will search the nooks and crannies of Cayman’s coral reefs to hunt the invasive species. CULL president Jason Washington said in a press release, “In a world full of environmental ocean conditions that are plaguing our coral reefs – acidiﬁ cation of the water, global warming and rising temperatures – invasive species, such as lionﬁ sh, are something we can actually attempt to control. “Why do we cull? To raise awareness about the importance of eating invasive species over local reef ﬁ sh.” After the culls each day on 1 and 2 Oct., the hunters will bring their catch to the Tomfoodery Restaurant at Camana Bay, where the lionﬁ sh will be weighed and measured, and then cooked and offered up for the cullers and members of the public to taste. Boil Water Notice lifted for Rum Point On 28 Sept. Water Authority- Cayman lifted its ‘Boil Water Notice’ for all its customers in the Rum Point area. In a public service announcement issued shortly after 6pm, the authority said that, following “extensive testing” by its accredited laboratory, results had conﬁ rmed that the water was safe for customers to consume. It comes after a water main was damaged in Hurricane Ian, and the Water Authority issued a notice on 27 Sept. advising all residents of Rum Point to boil their drinking water before consuming it. It applied to all customers west of the Sea Lodges at Cayman Kai, located on Rum Point Road. The water main was damaged as Hurricane Ian passed Cayman on 26 Sept., cutting off the water supply to residents in the area. Due to ﬂ ooding, the Water Authority crew could not repair the damage until 27 Sept. 1,000 turtle hatchlings released ahead of Ian The Department of Environment turtle team is assessing the impact of Hurricane Ian on local turtle nests along the shoreline after associated sea surges battered the coastline. The DoE said, in preparation for Hurricane Ian, the turtle team carried out 37 turtle nest excavations and 14 nest relocations, rescuing more than 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings that were due to hatch during the storm. Turtle researcher Jane Hardwick and team have since been assessing the impact of the storm on nests on all three islands. “We don’t know the full impact yet, we have more than 200 nests to check. So far, we have found most nests have been at least washed over. When they get washed over, it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t survive, but we have to wait and see how many hatch, so we don’t know the full impact until all have hatched (or not hatched),” she told the Cayman Compass on 28 Sept. Last year, storms affecting Cayman resulted in the loss of just over a quarter of the turtle nests tagged on local beaches, according to Department of Environment ﬁ gures. In total, 141 nests (26.5%) were washed over by waves. Of those, the DoE said, 88 nests still hatched, although 26 suffered reduced hatch success and 21 failed. Freediver Coral Tomascik ascends from the reef with a lionﬁ sh on a spear. A culling tournament will be held this weekend, 1 and 2 Oct., to help remove some of the invasive species from the reef. - Photo: Jason Washington news in brief cayman compass 2 N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 Matinees (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $9.00 (Mon-Fri before 6pm) Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets 640-FILM (640-3456) Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. 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Book a viewing or call today to discover why FIN is the Last Word in Luxury BOOK YOUR STAY IN GRAND CAYMAN’S ART DECO ICON1234567 89 101112 13141516 17 181920 212223 2425 1234567 89 101112 13141516 17 181920 212223 2425 ACROSS 1 Small oval oily fruit (5) 4 Morally correct (7) 8 Pinch (3) 9 Equal chance (4,5) 10 As well (7) 11 Person of great stature (5) 13 Dull and formal (6) 15 To bully (6) 18 Diaphanous (5) 19 Upheaval (5-2) 21 Hospitality for all comers (4,5) 23 Ailing (3) 24 Impose obedience (7) 25 Championship in sport (5) DOWN 1 Comprising many items (7) 2 Fraudulent deception (9) 3 Edit to remove errors (5) 4 Nevertheless (4,2) 5 A frequenter (7) 6 Hint (3) 7 Compare (5) 12 Completely (2,3,4) 14 To advance (7) 16 Drive back (7) 17 Undertake (6) 18 An incline (5) 20 Vigilant (5) 22 Folklore humanoid (3) The Compass Crossword Puzzle The Compass universal kakuro Puzzle 17123 The numbers in the black cells are clues. Numbers above the slash are across clues. Number below the slash are down clues. The goal is to enter digits 1 - 9 in the white cells to add up to the number clues. You cannot enter any digit more than once when adding up to clue. TODAY'S SOLUTIONS Puzzle 17123 ACROSS: 1 Olive, 4 Ethical, 8 Nip, 9 Even break, 10 Besides, 11 Titan, 13 Stuffy, 15 Hector, 18 Sheer, 19 Shake-up, 21 Open house, 23 Ill, 24 Enforce, 25 Title. DOWN: 1 Omnibus, 2 Imposture, 3 Emend, 4 Even so, 5 Habitue, 6 Cue, 7 Liken, 12 To the hilt, 14 Further, 16 Repulse, 17 Assume, 18 Slope, 20 Alert, 22 Elf. Compass reports live on Hurricane Ian It’s great to see the Cayman Islands being proactive and not just reactive! – Kevin Althage Great job to all of our professional team that is on the lookout for us and our safety. Please follow the instructions and let us be safe. One love to my Beloved Cayman Islands. – Perla R. Allen Thanks for all the updates. We are safe here in George Town. – Pamela Decker Doing a great job of keeping us informed. Very grateful. – Shelley Solomon Thank you for keeping us up to date. – Erin Bodden Thanks, Hazard Management Cayman Islands, emergency services and the Cayman Islands National Weather Service for staying up for our safety. – Sarah Orrett Thank you for keeping us informed. – Kerlyn Kelly-wright Cayman Islands Regiment Thank you! Please stay safe as you go about your tasks. We are very grateful for your dedication. – Decia Foster I’m so grateful we have this service available. Thank you for being available and stay safe out there. – Jacki Ebanks Great that we have this regiment! Thank you. – Natasha Playne Thank you, Cayman Islands Regiment! Much respect. – Christopher Fletcher Post-Hurricane Ian clean-up Cayman... so happy it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Continue to stay safe. – mermaidtravel Shelter calls for volunteers ahead of approaching storm The way we treat our animals is a reflection of the type of society that we have. – peterchampagnie The Humane Society needs help from the government year round! It’s appalling. – kateryley Police investigating 3 gun-related incidents Seriously, this needs taking in hand and stamping out. For such a small and interconnected place, this is absurd. With the will and applied focus, this is capable of being reined in. – Nigel Von Sachsenburg This is awful. What’s happening to Cayman? – Brenda Rennie Falconer Hurricane Ian compounds erosion on Seven Mile Beach It is high time to stop talking about this problem, and take bold and courageous action. Engage the existing owners along Seven Mile Beach and agree on a partnership for a real solution! Start with immediately instituting a development setback from the high water mark of at least 125 feet. Immediately amend the development and planning legislation. We cannot have our cake and eat it too. I am tired of writing and talking about this, which I have done from the 2000 General Elections. – Mario Ebanks I am not an engineer but a wall in front of Sunset Cove from Plantation to Dart’s house 50-100 feet out in the ocean, filled with sand would do the trick. I have seen pictures from years ago of the beach going that far out, so it would be just returning nature to what it was. – Bruce Leibowitz “The general public,” Cuello (Hermes Cuello, general manager of the Marriott resort) said, “… were also unaware of the erosion.” Let me correct that misunderstanding. The general public knew this erosion was going to happen when these buildings like Marriott were being built but the developers also knew that building down on the beach made them more profit, and it would be Johnny-come-lately property owners and managers left holding the bag and unaware of the erosion they were buying into. I believe the realtors call it ‘buyer beware’. – John Bothwell It is understandable that residents in low-lying flood risk areas need to sandbag their accommodations to assist in stopping flooding; however, it’s disheartening to see when hundreds of residents rush down to the beaches to fill their bags and, then, after the weather has passed, simply dump those bags in the bushes or garbage bins. We really need to be more responsible, it takes less effort to return the sand to the beach – simply cutting them open and pouring the sand out back out where it came from – than it does having to scoop them up in the first place. Take responsibility for your actions residents, return the sand to the beach you took it from! Penelope Walsh I am becoming increasingly concerned with the increase in crime and, more particular, with the increase in gun violence in Grand Cayman. I spend about five months a year in Grand Cayman and have been coming since 1995. While I read of incidents almost weekly, I cannot recall any articles on the underlying causes of why individuals are arming themselves and finding the need to settle disagreements with violence. Nor do I see government looking into the underlying causes. Martin Randisi It was a little disturbing to read the story of the statue of the blue iguana at the entrance to the Botanic Park which was damaged by vandals in March this year. Let’s hope this is not the beginning of a disturbing trend. Some things, like COVID, tattoos, smartphones, just can’t be kept out, no matter how hard you try. But the deliberate spoiling of public places by wanton destruction, even graffiti, is somehow very un- Caymanian and should be strongly discouraged. Mind you, when I told this sorry tale to my granddaughter Sophie, she suggested that it may well be just a case of the iguanas getting their own back. From the mouths of children… Mike Spragg Vandalism of statue ‘disturbing’ Worried about rise in gun violence Return sand to beach What they’re saying Online Letters to the editor cayman compass 4 news N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@compassmedia.ky The Cayman Islands survived a glancing blow from Hurricane Ian Monday as the storm passed offshore, bringing fierce winds and high seas but causing little lasting damage, before gathering strength as it moved north to pummel Florida as a Category 4 storm. For Grand Cayman, it was a close call. The primary casualties locally were coastal docks and boardwalks. Low-lying condo complexes and residential back roads were inundated with water while part of Seven Mile Beach – from the Marriott Resort to the Coral Beach Club – was stripped clean of sand by the surging seas. Around 130 people sought refuge in hurricane shelters Sunday night with a handful of coastal properties evacuated as the storm approached. By mid-afternoon Monday, almost 4,000 homes were without power, though most had electricity restored by the evening. Parts of South Sound Road and Seafarers Way on the George Town waterfront were temporarily closed to traffic through late afternoon as high seas pounded the coast. Foliage along with chunks of concrete from a damaged car park were scattered across the road outside Burger King in George Town where roiling swells crashed into the ironshore, showering the carriageway in salt spray. The decks at waterfront bars Cayman Cabana and Rackam’s took a pounding again. But, as the wind abated and the water receded, the overwhelming feeling across Grand Cayman was one of relief. There were no reports of any injuries, no serious structural damage and the vast majority of homes maintained power throughout the storm. Hurricane Ian passed 75 miles from Grand Cayman at its closest point around 9am as a Category 1 storm. It intensified rapidly as it moved away from the islands, becoming a Category 3 hurricane as it struck the western part of Cuba, and a Category 4 when it slammed into Florida on Wednesday. Disaster averted For the Cayman Islands, it was a case of a potential disaster averted. Clean-up crews were out in force through the week, clearing debris from the roads, raking fallen leaves and branches, and patching up docks and splintered boardwalks. Immediately after the storm, the Cayman Islands Regiment was on patrol throughout the island, surveying the damage and providing support to residents where needed. The Royal Navy made a brief stop in Cayman but that level of support – or even the country-wide clean-up that was needed after Grace – was not required. At the height of the storm Monday morning, wind speeds Hurricane Ian spares Cayman but pounds Florida Work crews clear debris from the South Sound dock Monday. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay “We are really very lucky. We have dodged another bullet.” Cayman Islands Regiment Commander Simon Watson PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 19» cayman compass 5 news N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022Cayman breathed a sigh of relief as it escaped serious destruction from Hurricane Ian, which passed about 75 miles to the west as a Category 1 storm, before it strengthened further and slammed into Cuba and Florida, causing widespread damage. Clean-up crews were out in force on Monday and Tuesday to clear debris from roads and boardwalks, but repairs on docks and waterfront properties had to wait until Wednesday when the seas calmed down. Plywood was the order of the day across the Cayman Islands as storm prep got under way the weekend before Ian hit. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay A National Roads Authority worker uses a chainsaw to cut a fallen tree into smaller logs. - Photo: Andrel Harris Members of the Royal Navy from HMS Medway arrive by dinghies at the George Town Yacht Club marina on Tuesday. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay Members of the Royal Navy from HMS Medway clean up the boardwalk and beach at South Sound following Hurricane Ian. - Photo: Governor Martyn Roper's Facebook page Two red flags indicate that a hurricane warning is in force. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay People watch massive waves roll in at Smith Barcadere after the all- clear was issued. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay cayman compass 6 news N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022Car owners parked their vehicles at one of the highest spots on island – the elevated section of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay Cayman Cabana on the George Town harbourfront is hammered with post-Ian waves on 27 Sept. - Photo: Courtesy of Luigi Moxam Sand was stripped away from Seven Mile Beach. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay This road sign did not fare well in the storm. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay The Kimpton Seafire hotel is seen through a haze of sea spray in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Monday afternoon. – Photo: Taneos Ramsay Sea surge and rough seas continued for days after the hurricane passed Cayman. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay cayman compass 7 news N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022NORMA CONNOLLY nconnolly@compassmedia.ky Hurricane Ian, which sideswiped the Cayman Islands, brought large sea surges that hammered Seven Mile Beach, a long swathe of which had already been severely eroded. Speaking shortly after the all clear was given on Monday, Hermes Cuello, general manager of the Marriott Resort, said he was deeply concerned about the impact the storm has had on the beach in front of his hotel and the properties that stretch from Plantation Village to past Coral Beach. That strip has been facing problems with erosion for some time. But prior to the passage of Hurricane Ian, pockets of sand had been restored in places by seasonal wave activity. Those gains were swept away Monday afternoon. “Because the storm came from the south, we lost the whole beach. We are hoping there will later be winds and waves from the north that will bring some of it back, but it’s too early to tell,” Cuello told the Compass. ‘Four Mile Beach’? Earlier this month, Cuello and property owners and managers along the southern end of Seven Mile Beach held a meeting at the Marriott Beach Resort to discuss the impact of the continuously eroding beach. “Cayman Islands is known for Seven Mile Beach, which we know originally was five and a half miles long, not seven, which now has turned into four because we’ve lost a mile and a half of beach,” he told fellow property managers and owners. Storms, rising sea levels, developments built too close to the sea and natural erosion have all led to more and more sand disappearing from the beach in recent years. Cuello said tourists are now aware of the problem, and taking it into consideration when booking places to stay. Condo owners along the beach said at the 13 Sept. meeting that visitors now often ask for photos of the beach before confirming their bookings. The general public, Cuello said, unless they regularly walk that section of beach or visited properties along it, were also unaware of the erosion, so he and others have been trying to raise awareness among the local community and the government of the issue. The government last year said it would allocate $21 million to restore the beach over two years. This included a $1 million budget for a business case and feasibility study to be undertaken in 2022, and $20 million for the project, if approved, to be carried out. Cuello says he has repeatedly sought an update on the progress of the plans, which may involve a sand-renourishment initiative, from the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, but has not received a reply. He said he invited the ministry’s chief officer Jennifer Ahearn, who is a member of a task force set up to address the erosion issue, to the 13 Sept. meeting, but also did not get a response. Premier Wayne Panton, who is also minister of sustainability and climate resiliency, told the Compass on Tuesday that he had visited the beach to see the damage Ian had wrought, and was “dismayed” by what he had found. He said beach erosion involved “multiple issues” that needed to be looked at. “We have to confront certain realities, you can’t continue to do things the way we’ve always done it. We have to find alternate means of [tackling] this,” he said, which included ensuring beachfront developments were “more resilient to the challenges”. He acknowledged, “Obviously, that’s not something that happens overnight. That’s a longer term process,” adding that government is looking at way to replenish the sand that has been stripped from the southern part of the beach. “But that’s... not the only answer. We have to address all the other factors that have been causing a lot of the erosion. And we also have to recognise that we are going to have increasing sea levels. That has been factored into the equation as well, when we consider the kinds of development we do on the coastline.” Guests transported to Public Beach Meanwhile, Cuello and other managers of condos and guesthouses on Seven Mile say they are losing guests who don’t want to come to beachfront properties that don’t have a beach. Cuello said his hotel has been ferrying guests to Public Beach so they can enjoy a beach experience. Seven Mile Beach has seen serious erosion previously. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma led to the loss of a long stretch of beach, and the government replenished it with 6,000 cubic feet of sand. “They dumped it in front of this property and helped renourishment of this area, and it lasted all the way to 2018,” Cuello told meeting attendees. ”We believe that something similar needs to be done, on a larger scale,” he added, but acknowledged that this was a medium-term solution because ”it will happen time and time again. Ocean levels are rising year on year... It’s not something that we can solve by putting sand there. It will last a few years.” The Marriott is considering a $30 million renovation, he said, but if there is no beach in front of the hotel, which has the word ‘beach’ in its name, this may not go ahead, leading, Cuello said, to less business and fewer guests, and therefore potential job losses among staff and a drop in revenue for vendors that supply the hotel. Condo owners and managers at the meeting agreed that they are facing similar challenges, and have to take the state of the beach into account when making decisions on whether to invest in renovations of their properties. Fewer guests at such properties also mean less accommodation tax revenue for the government, the meeting attendees noted. Yet another concern, Cuello said, was the possible structural damage being done to properties that are being inundated with waves as the beach disappears. “My fear is we cannot have another year pass and we didn’t do anything about the erosion. We’ve had enough time to study, to discuss, to really plan, and we cannot just wait for another year and see all the customers and tourists go to another destination because we didn’t do anything about it,” he said. Ian compounds Seven Mile Beach erosion Ian compounds Seven Mile Beach erosion The scene at Seven Mile Beach on Monday following the passage of Hurricane Ian. Condo and hotel managers along that strip say the continuous erosion of the beach is harmful to their business and to Cayman's reputation as a beach destination. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay “Cayman Islands is known for Seven Mile Beach, which we know originally was five and a half miles long, not seven, which now has turned into four because we’ve lost a mile and a half of beach.” Hermes Cuello, general manager, Marriott Beach Resort cayman compass news N news FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 8Condolences can be registered at boddenfuneralservice.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page The family of the late Roger Dale Ebanks regret to announce his passing on Sunday, 18 September 2022. A funeral service will be held 3:00 p.m. at the Craddock Ebanks Civic Center in North Side on Sunday, 2 October 2022. Viewing will be held from 2:00 p.m. prior to the service. Interment will follow at the North Side Cemetery. but your home looks like this. If you have a loss, you will only be paid for a proportion of your claim. You paid to insure this... To find out if you’re at risk, call us at +345 949 7280 Underinsurance —are you at risk? Underinsurance —it’s just not worth it. Islandheritageinsurance.com/underinsurance 199123_1-Ad-Compass-2colx10-UndePage 1 8/5/21 11:50:27 AM Community Announcements ANDREL HARRIS aharris@compassmedia.ky Roger Bush has been convicted of murdering his son in a “hail of bullets”, in an apparent jealous rage brought on by rumours that the young man was having an affair with his father’s partner. On Wednesday, 28 Sept., Acting Justice Marlene Carter, who presided over Bush’s judge- alone trial, returned guilty verdicts against him, on the charges of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Shaquille Bush, 24, was gunned down at his Miss Daisy Lane home in West Bay. In what has been described in court as a “horrific, brutal and cowardly killing”, he was shot at 15 times on the evening of 12 Nov. 2019. Two fatal shots The judge recounted the evidence concerning the final two fatal shots, “one to the back of the left chest which passed through the spine and heart [and] immobilised Shaquille Bush, and the shot to the back of the head [which] was a… coup de grâce”, adding, “The evidence is that he died in a hail of bullets.” Although the murder occurred in 2019, Bush was not arrested or charged in relation to the incident until June 2021, after his ex-partner Nikkieta Ebanks, 33, began to cooperate with the police. Ebanks, who became the star witness in the prosecution’s case, told the court that Bush confessed to killing his son to her and her cousin. “He had heard the rumours that Shaquille Bush was the real father of [my young daughter and that she looked like him,” Ebanks told the court during the trial. “Roger was upset of the rumours, and I told him it was not true and that it could not have been possible.” ‘Credible witness’ When returning her verdict, Carter said she found Ebanks to be a credible person, and accepted most of her evidence. “In order… to prove their case, the prosecution has set about to demonstrate that Roger Bush had the motive, the means and the access to kill Shaquille Bush,” said Carter. “The evidence provided by Nikkieta Ebanks has demonstrated the motive… that there was sexual jealousy on the part of the defendant; that the defendant had the means… as she observed him with a gun in his possession and on a previous occasion, she also observed him in the company of people who were also in possession of guns; and the access was clearly evident as both men lived in the same yard.” During the nearly two-hour- long verdict hearing, Carter read briefly from parts of what she said was a lengthy judgment that was expected to be released to the public soon. She said in her judgment she considered and accepted the evidence of RCIPS detectives, data analysts, other experts and circumstantial evidence as well as witness testimonies of Ebanks and her cousin Candice Ebanks who gave a similar account. “This court has observed Nikkieta Ebanks in her evidence, she was not inconsistent, she admitted how she felt about the defendant, she was angry at him for abusing her in front of her daughter,” said Carter. “Her evidence did hold up under cross- examination. I find that Nikkieta Ebanks is a reliable, truthful witness. I accept her evidence.” Carter added that Candice Ebanks “was a forthright witness who admitted that she sometimes has issues with her memory; however, her evidence was consistent with her earlier account… ”. Defendant did not take the stand Bush denied killing his son. He did not give evidence in his case, which Carter said, “was because he knew there was no account or reason that he could give that would be able to withstand scrutiny”. Upon hearing the guilty verdict, Bush sat back, smirked, drank a sip of water and eventually left the dock to go down into the court cells and outside to a waiting prison van – all under the watchful gaze of numerous police detectives and prison officers. No date has been set for his sentencing. He was remanded back into custody. Shaquille Bush died after two fatal gunshot wounds, one to the back where a bullet pierced his heart and spine, and one to the head. - Photo: File Father convicted of killing son in ‘hail of bullets’ Shaquille Bush, 24, was gunned down at his Miss Daisy Lane home in West Bay. cayman compass 9 FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 news N newsNext >