The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON


Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN has told how she was woken up in the early hours by a voice crying ‘help me! help me!’

Juliet Dean, of Alice Town, Bimini told a court her husband got up from their bedroom and went to investigate a noise that had their dogs barking.

Mrs Dean said she had thought the cries a loud sound caused by someone hitting her back door.

She said she went to the kitchen area and heard a voice cry out, ‘help me! help me!’
“I asked ‘who is it?’ and they kept saying ‘help me! help me!’ the court heard.

“And I asked who is it again or I’d call the police. In response, the person said ‘call the police’.

“I called and told the officer that someone was at my back door calling for help.”
Daniel Ayo sat in the dock listening as the jury heard from Mrs Dean.

It is claimed that on May 12, 2012, in Bimini, he caused the death of Jamaican Clyde Tomlison.
An American, from Florida, Ayo denies the murder charge.

Tomlison was shot around 2am and died shortly after the incident in a government clinic.

On Friday, Juliet Dean took the witness stand and recalled how the noise that woke her up prompted her to call police.

“I was awoken by a loud sound. It sounded like someone hit my back door,” she said, adding that the dogs started barking after the loud noise.

“My husband got up and walked to the kitchen area,” the court heard. It was then she followed after her husband.

Mrs Dean told prosecutor Linda Evans it didn’t take long for a policeman to arrive at her house.

She said when the officer came, he shone his light on a person lying on a golf cart.
“Were you able to see the face of the person?” the prosecutor asked.

“The only thing I saw was a figure. I didn’t see his face because of his position lying on the golf cart,” the witness said.

“Were you able to tell whether or not he was still alive?” prosecutor Evans said.

“He was still crying when the officer came,” Mrs Dean said.

Mrs Dean said the officer went to get help from the police station returning with a fellow officer and a police truck.

She said the officer lifted the man, who had fallen on the ground, and put him on the truck and took him away.

“How far away is the clinic from your home?” the prosecutor asked, trying to get a timeframe of how long it took to get the man from the home to the clinic in Bailey Town.

“It should have taken no more than five minutes. It’s a short distance from my house to the clinic.”

“Did you do anything else after this?” Ms Evans asked.

“I went inside and tried to go back to sleep,” said the witness.

Mrs Dean was asked where the cart was situated in relation to her house. She said it was parked on the southern side of her back door.

Under cross-examination, defending attorney Wayne Munroe asked the witness to clarify the position of the man in the cart and the location of the clinic.

“The clinic is in Bailey Town, that’s the north side,” Mrs Dean said.

“Your house is located near the police station?” the attorney asked.

“No sir. That’s in Alice Town,” said Mrs Dean.

“Did anything else disturb your sleep that evening other than the noise that you heard?” said Mr Munroe.

“No” the witness said.

“Did you see how he came to your home?” the attorney asked.

“No sir” she said.
Mr Munroe said: “As far as you were concerned, he was still alive at the time?

“Yes. He was crying out for help,” the witness said.
The trial was set to resume today. Daniel Ayo was on $50,000 bail.