Shineka Gray murder trial set for continuation on Monday
Published:Monday | November 27, 2023 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE TRIAL of Gregory Roberts, the sole remaining defendant in the 2017 murder of 15-year-old Green Pond High School student Shineka Gray, is slated to continue in the St James Circuit Court today, after having started on Thursday.
While the trial did not continue on Friday following the first day of testimony, it is understood that evidence will be brought in the prosecution’s case against Roberts, particularly concerning the post-mortem report, the contents of which were previously agreed upon by the prosecution and the defendant’s legal team.
During the trial’s first day on Thursday, the court heard evidence from Gray’s father and aunt, the first two of an anticipated 18 witnesses for the prosecution.
Roberts is being represented by attorneys Chumu Parris and Leroy Equiano in his trial, which had previously been slated to start on September 20.
Roberts and another defendant, Mario Morrison, were arrested and charged in relation to Gray’s murder after the 15-year-old schoolgirl’s body was found on February 1, 2017 with multiple stab wounds in bushes in Irwin, St James.
Morrison pleaded guilty in September 2022 and was sentenced one month later to life imprisonment.
Gray, who was a grade-10 student at Green Pond High School in St James, was found dead three days after she had been reported missing.
In a tragic case of irony, she was last seen alive in Montego Bay while on her way home from the funeral of a schoolmate.
In the years leading up to the start of Roberts’ trial on Thursday, there have been multiple dates set for the trial’s beginning, including prior to Morrison’s guilty plea in 2022.
The first trial date was set for November 19, 2018, at which time it was put off due to a lack of jurors and the absence of one of the defence lawyers. On that date, Parris made an unsuccessful application on Roberts’ behalf for the trial to be held outside of St James, citing concerns for Roberts’ safety.
The case was heard again on October 7, 2019, but was put off until March 9, 2020 following case management discussions between the prosecution and defence attorneys.
Two other trial dates were then set on June 3 and September 16, 2020, with multiple mention dates in between, and then on March 8, 2021, with 27 witnesses slated at that time to testify for the prosecution.
There have also been a number of failed attempts by Roberts’ legal team to secure bail for him, with one of the more recent efforts in this regard being made on March 8 this year.
At that time, Parris made the bail application for Roberts before High Court Justice Andrea Thomas, the presiding judge in that hearing, on the grounds that the defendant had been in custody for six years up to that point.
However, that bail application was denied due to concerns from the prosecution that Roberts would interfere with the prosecution’s witnesses if he was granted bail.