Absent defendant stalls trial of men accused of killing St Catherine custom broker

The absence of one of the men implicated in the 2019 murder of their friend, a St Catherine custom broker, on Monday resulted in the trial date being postponed to December 2, 2024, in the Home Circuit Court.

Omar 'Up Up' Campbell, of Portmore, St Catherine, and  Andre Buckham are charged for the June 24, 2019 killing of 27-year-old Julian Chen, who was gunned down on Harbour Street in downtown Kingston.

Campbell is accused of shooting his friend to death in an unprovoked incident after assisting him with transportation from Marcus Garvey Drive, where his motorcycle had developed mechanical problems.

According to police reports, Chen was reportedly travelling on Marcus Garvey Drive in the wee hours when his motorbike broke down.

It is further reported that contact was made with Campbell, who organised assistance for Chen to be picked up.

He had also travelled to Marcus Garvey Drive.

Chen was reportedly picked up in his minivan by Buckham and transported to Harbour Street.

However, after exiting the vehicle he was reportedly shot and killed by Campbell, who had been travelling in another vehicle.

Chen's body was reportedly found by the police around 2:30 a.m. with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his head.

The police later theorised that Chen was killed as a result of an internal gang feud.

On Monday when the case was called up for trial, calls for Buckham to appear in court went unanswered.

His attorney-at-law Diane Jobson told the court that that she was not surprised that he was not answering and that she had been informed that he was shot and injured.

The lawyer consequently asked for a warrant for her client to be stayed while indicating that the sole eyewitness in the matter was also not present when the matter was mentioned on a previous court date in June.

Consequently, the trial date was rescheduled to December 2 of next year, and a pre-trial hearing was also scheduled for September 2 of next year.

In the meantime, Campbell's bail was extended.

Attorney-at-law Kemar Robinson is representing Campbell.

- Tanesha Mundle

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