The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE officer testified yesterday that Aliko Collins was a suspect in an attempted kidnapping and armed robbery shortly before he was shot and killed by an off-duty officer in Pinewood Gardens in 2017.

The inquest into the police-involved shooting of 21-year-old Collins continued before acting Coroner Kara Turnquest-Deveaux.

Now-retired Superintendent Basil Collie, the subject of the inquest, reportedly shot and killed Collins after he and two accomplices confronted the officer during a walk on Bamboo Boulevard in the early hours of February 8, 2017. The officer claims that Collins was armed at the time.

This is the second inquest into this shooting; the first jury was dismissed before reaching a verdict due to what the coroner deemed inappropriate behaviour during the officer’s testimony in May.

Superintendent Steven Carey, the lead investigator, read out the statements from Cevon Campbell and Demiko Nottage, the deceased’s alleged accomplices on the day of the shooting.

Superintendent Carey read Campbell’s statement, in which Campbell, the driver that night, said he and the other two men had gone to Laufey’s bar before confronting the officer.

Campbell recalled blocking Collins off with his car on Pinewood Drive, an action he said was suggested by Collins. Campbell claimed that Collins thought the officer was someone he had a dispute with.

Supt Carey noted that Campbell’s report indicated that the suspects were unarmed during the confrontation and that Collins only held up a wine bottle.

Campbell’s statement concluded with him fleeing the scene in his car after the officer began shooting.

However, Nottage’s statement contradicted Campbell’s account.

According to Supt Carey, Nottage said that Collins was armed that night and intended to rob the officer.

Supt Carey also said Campbell described Collins’s weapon as black, matching his shirt.

During cross-examination by K Melvin Munroe, Mr Collie’s attorney, Supt Carey said that the former officer told him he was exercising when Collins confronted him.

Supt Carey further noted that the suspects in this incident were charged with attempted armed robbery and attempted abduction, which occurred an hour before the fatal shooting.

Inspector Austin Bowles testified that gunshot residue tests were taken from both Campbell and Nottage in relation to these incidents.

Inspector Bowles also showed photos of the crime scene, where Collins’s head was found in a pool of blood near a shattered glass bottle. Collins was also seen wearing a black Nike shirt.

Inspector Henrington Curry, a firearms expert, testified that the eight 9mm bullet casings and the fired bullet recovered from the scene were discharged from the same 9mm Beretta pistol.

The officer added that this police-issued weapon was tested and confirmed to be operational.

Angelo Whitfield marshalled the evidence.