By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
HEATED tempers escalated into a fight outside the Nassau Street Court Complex between the family of a victim and friends of a man accused of several counts of murder and attempted murder Friday.
Travis Davis, 25, is charged with four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder stemming from an incident that happened on September 6, 2019.
However, before his formal arraignment before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, the scene outside was contentious, with friends of Davis and relatives of a victim getting into a scuffle.
Before the melee as police escorted a shackled Davis into the court room a woman was heard shouting, “you kill my brother”, while others told the accused to keep his head up.
As he continued his walk to the courtroom, Davis told police escorts: “They railroading me. I telling the judge y’all railroading me, all them murders?”
Once he was inside court nine and the chief magistrate had asked him to confirm his identity, Davis said: “They lying on me.”
“I asked you if that’s you?” the chief magistrate again asked, to which he said that it was.
At one point the accused was tearfully emotional and was handed tissues to dry his face.
Travis Davis of Labour Street is accused of murdering Marcus Sweeting, Dwight Miller, Jimmy Augustine and Franklyn Rolle.
The remaining seven counts are for allegedly attempting to murder Portia Smith, Alvin Saunders, Jarette Smith, Everette Richardson, Nester Mackey, Jerinique Roberts and Tavia Brown.
After the 11 charges were read against Davis his lawyer asked Chief Magistrate Pratt to direct the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services to grant his client protective custody, noting the incidents could be gang related.
For this reason, the lawyer said, there could be incidents of retaliation against Davis while at the facility.
However, the chief magistrate said she did not have the authority to instruct BDCS Commissioner Charles Murphy on how to house inmates.
Davis was not required to enter a plea to any of the charges and a voluntary bill of indictment will be presented in a magistrate’s court on December 11, 2019.
He is remanded to the BDCS until that time.
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