The Tribune

Wednesday, September 14 — AN ARGUMENT over parking led to the stabbing death of a father in September 2008, according to a witness' testimony in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Two minors testified that 28-year-old Jason Smith was intoxicated when he got into an argument with the three men accused of his murder.

The key witnesses for prosecutor Jillian Williams, told Senior Justice Jon Isaacs and a twelve member jury, that Smith had told a driver of a vehicle that he could not park in front of his property.

Edney Burrows, 26, of Deveaux Street; Daryl Rolle, 35, of Palm Avenue; and Andre Dieujuste, 27, of Windsor Lane are accused of stabbing Smith, who died of his injuries in hospital on September 13, 2008.

Smith had appeared "drunk" when a car pulled up in front of his property that night, according to the first minor. The young relative, who was 13 at the time of the argument, told the court that she and Smith's wife had returned from a friend's house when she saw Smith approach the car.

Smith left the porch to approach the driver of the vehicle who went across the street to converse with the accused men under a tree.

Smith then spoke with Daryl Rolle on the side and eventually walked away. The relative then said that a statement from Edney Burrows caused the victim to stop, turn around and ask Burrows three times, "It's a wibe?"

Burrows, according to the minor, had snatched Smith by his shirt then put him a headlock and appeared to be punching him. It was at this point that Andre "Pepsi" Dieujuste ran off and came back with a cutlass and used it to "chap" Smith in his shoulder.

The witness said that another relative, who also lived with Smith, had tried to get Smith away from the men, but retreated after being "spanked" with the cutlass.

It was also during this time that the wife was "drop kicked" by Burrows after attempting to pull Smith away from the scuffle.

Burrows faces an additional charge of attempted murder of the victim's wife, Tamara Smith.

She told the court Rolle began to throw rocks at Smith who eventually escaped the fight and ran past her bloodied.

At this point she walked to her mother's house on another street to tell her about what had happened and then returned to the scene. She said it took 10 minutes. When she arrived she saw Smith's wife on the floor being assisted by EMS. She told the court that she saw EMS putting her uncle on a stretcher and putting him into the ambulance.

Defence attorneys, which includes Elliot Lockhart, Terrel Butler and Christina Galanos, asked the witness about the wife's involvement in the incident, and suggested that the wife was in possession of a bottle. She insisted that the wife had none, repeating that the wife had tried to pull Smith away from the fight and pushed Burrows away from Smith and was jump-kicked into a parked car.

However, in a statement to the police after the incident occurred, the defence revealed that the statement read that the deceased wife was pushed and not "drop kicked" as claimed by the minor.

She was also asked if she threw a bottle at any of the defendants - she said that she could not recall, when asked to clarify she said could not remember throwing the bottle.

The second minor and relative of the wife told the court that the deceased had come from a funeral a "little intoxicated" and she was on the porch with Burrows when he instructed her to go inside and turn on the air conditioning - at the same time the car pulled up.

She went inside but came back out after hearing the argument and saw Smith being stabbed by Burrows and "chapped" by "Pepsi".

She too testified that Rolle had come behind Smith with a block after he got away from the fight and attempted to "burst" him with the block.

She was unable, however, to say where about the body Smith was struck because she had turned her back while assisting the deceased who was bloodied.

The defence then questioned if the minor, who had testified in court had thrown a bottle that was in her possession at the time of the fight. "Yes," she replied.

Additional witnesses included the responding officer who took photos of the scene in question, Burrows' father, and Michael Thompson, a relative of Rolle who was in the area at the time of the incident.

His testimony was that he only heard voices, one he recognized as his relative, giving the impression of an argument, but he indicated to the defence that he saw none of the fight. The case resumes today at 10 am.