A man from Tobago, who admitted to stabbing a teenager to death in a fight almost two decades ago, has been freed of manslaughter.
Keyon Harry was discharged last Friday, after High Court Judge Sherene Murray-Bailey upheld a no-case submission made by his attorneys Michelle Gonzalez and Ayanna Norville, of the Public Defenders’ Department (PDD).
Harry was accused of unlawfully killing Haley Price on October 22, 2005, when he was 14 years old.
Harry, was reportedly liming with two friends near the Scarborough Port when he was approached by Price’s uncle, who accused him of having a dispute with his nephew.
The man walked away and returned shortly after with a group of friends and Price.
The men reportedly encouraged Price to slap Harry.
Price complied and also hit Harry on his head with an empty beer bottle.
Price attempted to reach for another bottle but was attacked by Harry.
Before onlookers intervened to stop the fight, Harry stabbed Price twice in his back.
Price was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries later that night.
Harry was charged with manslaughter in 2008 after former Senior Magistrate Joan Eversley-Gill completed a coroner’s inquest into the circumstances leading to Price’s death.
In their no-case submission, Gonzales and Norville claimed that State prosecutors had not proven that the killing was unlawful as there was evidence of self-defence, which was not debunked since the trial began in the Tobago High Court on June 10.
The application was resisted by prosecutors, who claimed that the jury should be allowed to deliberate on the issue and determine whether Harry’s actions were reasonable.
In upholding the application, Justice Murray-Bailey agreed that prosecutors failed to prove that Harry acted unreasonably in the circumstances he faced.
Justice Murray-Bailey directed the nine-member jury before her to return with a non-guilty verdict based on her ruling and Harry was set free.
The case was prosecuted by Taterani Seecharan and Josanne Forrester, of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).