The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN yesterday testified how she had left her husband in The Bahamas to go on a trip with her children out of the country, only to find out later that he was one of four people killed in the 2013 Fox Hill mass shooting.

Helen Davis, taking the witness stand before Justice Deborah Fraser, said she was in the United States when her husband Claudezino Davis was killed during the drive by shooting. “At first I was in shock, and then I cried,” she said, remembering when she first heard the news.

Mrs Davis ended up returning to The Bahamas the very next day with her children, and two days later on December 30 she went to the morgue with her mother-in-law and identified her husband’s body. She buried her husband some two weeks later.

While being cross-examined by defence attorney Geoffrey Farquharson, Mrs Davis said due to her being out of the country, she had no first-hand knowledge of what happened, much less who may have been the perpetrators.

In particular, and in response to a question from Mr Farquharson, Mrs Davis said she couldn’t say whether Mr Farquharson’s client, Justin Williams, was involved in the shooting, or whether there was even a vehicle. “I don’t know anything,” she said.

The assertions were made during Mr Farquharson’s cross-examination during the second week of trial before Justice Deborah Fraser.

Williams, Peter Rolle, and Jermaine Curry are the accused. It is alleged that the trio murdered four people – Claudezino Davis, Shaquille Demeritte, Eric Morrison and Shenique Sands. They are also charged with the attempted murder of Chino Davis, Janet Davis, John Davis, Samuel Ferguson, Jermaine Pratt and Leroy Taylor.

According to initial reports, around 6pm on December 27, 2013 occupants of a small, dark vehicle opened fire in the area just behind the basketball court near Fox Hill park where several people were gathered awaiting Junkanoo results.

Davis was pronounced dead at the scene while ten others were taken to hospital in private vehicles and an ambulance. Demeritte, Morrison and Sands later died in hospital of their injuries.

The case continues today.