Soldier remanded for Manchester murder

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) reserve soldier charged with the murder of 23-year-old Northern Caribbean University student, Shannel Norris, was remanded when he appeared in the Manchester Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

Bernard Ballentine, 47, who was brought before Resident Magistrate Yvonne Brown, is scheduled to make his third appearance in court on November 3, when the result of a forensic examination is to be presented to the court.

Ballentine was charged in August, following the discovery of the body of the student along the Hart Road main road in the parish, just metres away from the JDF training camp.

According to police, about 6:45 p.m. on August 11, Ballentine and Norris were travelling along Hart Road in the parish when an argument developed. It is alleged that the soldier then pulled a knife and slashed Norris' throat, killing her on the spot. He was later picked up by lawmen at the nearby JDF camp hours after her body was found in the front seat of a car believed to owned by Ballentine.

The incident has since sent shock waves throughout the university community with many describing her killing as a "crime of passion".

- Nedburn Thaffe