By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
AN officer testified that her partner shot and killed 27-year-old Deron Okoye Wilkinson on Independence Highway in 2018 after the deceased allegedly pulled out a gun during a traffic stop.
The officer also claimed that an EMS worker moved the weapon during efforts to treat Wilkinson, after questions were raised about the gun’s position in the aftermath of the incident.
Sergeant 3749 Deandra Forbes gave testimony before Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux as the inquest into Wilkinson’s fatal police-involved shooting continued.
It is alleged that a police officer shot Wilkinson on March 19, 2018 after he allegedly pointed a gun at officers. However, Wilkinson’s family maintain he was unarmed and was only waving his phone at officers.
Police Constable 3620 Lee Dormeus is the subject of the inquest. He was not present during yesterday’s proceedings.
S ergeant Forbes told the court that shortly after 4pm on the day in question, she and PC Dormeus were on mobile patrol when they tried to stop the deceased, who was driving a right-hand drive purple Nissan Skyline along Beaumontia Avenue in Garden Hills. The stop was initiated because of non-transparent tinted rear windows.
She said PC Dormeus, who was driving the left-hand drive police vehicle, used the siren and foghorn to signal Wilkinson to stop. Wilkinson initially continued driving north before eventually pulling over.
According to Sergeant Forbes, the deceased failed to get out of the vehicle when instructed, which aroused their suspicion. As she approached the car from the right with her firearm in a ready position pointed at the ground, PC Dormeus approached from the left.
Sergeant Forbes testified that she saw Wilkinson reach into his glove compartment. Moments later, she heard PC Dormeus shout “gun” once before firing a single shot at the deceased.
After the shooting, she said Wilkinson’s vehicle rolled down a hill, crashed through a wooden barricade, and came to a stop in the median near the Bahamas Public Service Credit Union on Independence Drive.
Sergeant Forbes said she pursued the vehicle on foot and, upon reaching it, saw Wilkinson slumped over in his seat with a firearm in his lap.
Although she believed the weapon still posed a threat, she said Wilkinson appeared lifeless.
She told evidence marshal Angelo Whitfield that she did not see PC Dormeus again until after she reached the vehicle and that he remained at the top of the hill and contacted dispatch. She said EMS arrived before Crime Scene Investigators and that EMS personnel moved the firearm while attending to the body. She claimed not to recall anything else being in Wilkinson’s lap.
Photographs shown during the hearing depicted Wilkinson’s body slumped in the driver’s seat with blood running down his face. Bloodstains were also visible on the front passenger seat, and a mobile phone was seen resting on his lap.
Another photo showed a firearm near Wilkinson’s left hand, with his fingers touching the handle. However, the gun appeared free of blood despite extensive staining throughout the car’s interior.
Mr Whitfield pointed out a discrepancy in Sergeant Forbes’ testimony, noting that the glove compartment was closed in the photos while the centre console was open. Sergeant Forbes said she could not explain who had closed the glove compartment or where the firearm had come from but maintained that she saw the weapon in Wilkinson’s lap when the vehicle stopped.
Valerie Wilkinson, the deceased’s mother, also gave testimony. She said her son was right-handed and that she was informed by police that he had been shot near the credit union.
She recounted identifying her son’s body at the morgue, saying she saw him lying on a slab behind a glass window. She said her son was buried on June 23, 2018 at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Mrs Wilkinson told the court that her son had no physical or mental health issues and described him as quiet and studious. He had been an honour roll student at Faith Way Academy and CV Bethel. She said she was unaware he was married at the time of his death, though he had told her days earlier that he was staying with his girlfriend. He worked at Island Wholesale.
Mrs Wilkinson wept in court after a graphic image of her son’s bloodied face was shown. She recoiled and tearfully said: “That was my son.”
The deceased’s father was also present for the proceedings.
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