The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

CONFLICTING accounts have emerged over the position of Deron Okoye Wilkinson’s body and the location of a firearm after he was fatally shot in his car by police on Independence Highway in 2018.

During an inquest before Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux, lead investigator Superintendent Nathaniel Gilbert and emergency medical technician Charnessa Major gave differing testimonies about the scene — specifically the reclined position of Wilkinson’s seat and whether the firearm was moved before investigators arrived.

Ms Major told the jury that she never touched the gun while examining Wilkinson’s body, contradicting earlier testimony from another officer who claimed EMS personnel had moved the weapon to treat the deceased.

That officer had given the explanation after being questioned about the position of the gun when it was photographed.

Wilkinson, 27, was killed on March 19, 2018, after an alleged encounter with police. Authorities say he pulled a weapon on officers. His family, however, dispute this, claiming he was unarmed and merely waving his phone when shot.

The officer at the centre of the case, Police Constable 3620 Lee Dormeus, was not present for yesterday’s proceedings.

Superintendent Gilbert testified that on the day of the incident, he arrived to find Wilkinson’s blue Nissan Skyline stopped on the median along Independence Drive, with its right-side doors open. He said Wilkinson was slumped in the driver’s seat wearing a red shirt and black sweatpants, and that a gun was located near his left thigh, close to his left hand.

This account differs from earlier testimony given by Sergeant Deandra Forbes — Dormeus’s partner — who said the gun was in Wilkinson’s lap after the car came to a stop. The vehicle had careened down a hill and crashed into a median following the shooting.

Superintendent Gilbert said he interviewed the officers involved, who told him they initially stopped Wilkinson’s vehicle for having dark tints. When Wilkinson failed to comply with instructions, including police sirens and a foghorn, they pursued him up a hill.

He said PC Dormeus approached the vehicle from the left and Sergeant Forbes from the right. According to the officers’ account, Dormeus fired a single shot after seeing Wilkinson allegedly reach for a gun in the glove compartment.

Gilbert testified that after Wilkinson was shot, the vehicle rolled down Beaumontia Avenue, crashed through a wooden barricade, and stopped on the median.

He collected PC Dormeus’s service-issued Sig Sauer pistol for processing and instructed Inspector Trevor McKinney to photograph the scene. Detective Corporal Demeko Bell was assigned to collect the firearm found in Wilkinson’s car.

Despite canvassing the surrounding neighbourhoods the following day, including Beaumontia Avenue and Ridgeland Park, Gilbert said no eyewitnesses or security footage of the incident were found. Surveillance cameras at the Teachers Credit Union were facing the wrong direction, he added.

Superintendent Gilbert said he later interviewed EMT Charnessa Major and pathologist Dr Caryn Sands, and submitted a full report based on his findings.

Under questioning from Evidence Marshal Angelo Whitfield, Superintendent Gilbert said that based on photographs of the vehicle’s tints, he would have stopped it as well for a traffic infraction. In such cases, he added, an officer could issue a warning or ticket and instruct the driver to remove the tints.

He also read a statement from the deceased’s widow, Venlesta Gordon, who wrote that she and Wilkinson were married on February 25, 2018. A Jamaican national, she said she was in The Bahamas preparing to return home when Wilkinson dropped her off at a salon that day. She said she later heard about an accident involving a vehicle matching her husband’s and immediately feared the worst. She was later interviewed by police.

During the inquest, attorney Maria Daxon, representing Wilkinson’s estate, questioned why the deceased’s body appeared reclined in a photograph. Superintendent Gilbert replied that EMS personnel would have touched the body to render assistance. When asked who placed the unloaded gun and two bullets on Wilkinson’s lap, Gilbert said a CSI officer had done so.

Although he initially testified that the weapon was found near Wilkinson’s thigh, Superintendent Gilbert said the gun could have been cleared either at the scene or by crime scene investigators. He explained that he was not present during this stage to avoid appearing in official photographs. However, he could not confirm who dismantled the weapon and admitted that officers did not measure the distance the vehicle travelled after the shooting.

Regarding the discharged round, Superintendent Gilbert testified that the bullet entered the left side of Wilkinson’s head and did not exit. He noted that there was no gunshot damage to the vehicle, which was eventually released to Wilkinson’s family, although he could not recall whether it was turned over to his wife or mother.

EMT Charnessa Major testified that she and her partner responded after police deemed the scene secure. She said Wilkinson had a gunshot wound above his left ear and confirmed there was no exit wound. Using photographs, she pointed out the injury to the jury.

Ms Major said she pronounced Wilkinson dead at the scene. She told the jury that she only lifted his shirt during her examination and did not move the firearm. She could not recall if the seat was reclined when she arrived and saw no reason to reposition the gun.

Both of Wilkinson’s parents were present for the proceedings.