Hakeem Roberto Stuart, 21, and former calypso monarch Aziza Tsgaye Kebret Clarke, 23, have been charged in connection with the Sheraton Mall shooting death of Damian Trotman.
Stuart of Shelbourne Gap, St Lawrence, Christ Church is charged with murdering Trotman, and recklessly or unlawfully discharging a firearm in a public place – Sheraton Centre – that placed a number of persons in danger of death or serious bodily harm.
Clarke of Unit #4 Bonnetts, Brittons Hill, St Michael and the 2016 winner of the Crop Over Festival Pic O De Crop calypso crown is charged withknowing or believing that Hakeem Stuart had committed an arrestable offence – murder – without lawful authority or reasonable excuse transported him in a car, an act intending to impede his apprehension.
She is also charged with assaulting the police to prevent her apprehension, resisting the police in the execution of duty and damaging a pair of sunglasses valued $120 belonging to Patrick Forde.
Clarke is also on traffic charges accused of being the driver of a car, failing to stop at the sound of the siren of a police vehicle, failing to register MC92 with the Licensing Authority and driving the vehicle without insurance.
The young woman came to the national spotlight when she became only the second woman to win the National Cultural Foundation competition since 1988. Both accused, who have been in custody since the day of the shooting, are scheduled to appear in a Bridgetown magistrate court tomorrow.
Trotman, 33, of Highland (near Foursquare), St Philip was shot on the eastern side of the food court in the crowded mall. The incident sent shoppers, workers and touring members of the blind community scampering to safety and provoked a national outcry.
Trotman’s murder was the 20th murder for the year.
