By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was denied bail yesterday for a 2018 double homicide in Pinewood Gardens after his previous bail was revoked last year due to his failure to appear for trial.
Justice Neil Brathwaite denied 25-year-old Keontae Pinder bail on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Pinder was granted bail previously concerning the fatal shootings of Rashad Bethel and D’Siorn Symonette in Pinewood Gardens on February 16, 2018. Another man was also reportedly seriously injured during the incident.
After being granted bail, the defendant allegedly breached his residential curfew five times in February of the previous year. For this, he was convicted by Senior Magistrate Shaka Serville and ordered to pay a fine of $3,500 or face three months in prison.
In his latest bail application, Pinder claimed he was arrested in January 2024, and that before his release, officers seized his phone, which contained important information, and never returned it to him.
Justice Brathwaite pointed out that the defendant failed to appear for his murder trial on March 4, 2024. He added that Pinder’s bail was revoked on March 24, 2024, after sureties had ensured his attendance in court.
Ashton Williams, representing the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed Pinder’s bail application, saying Pinder was identified as one of the two shooters in the double homicide and that it was Pinder’s motorcycle allegedly used as the getaway vehicle.
Mr Williams also noted that Pinder had made multiple bail breaches in 2022.
The defendant’s attorney, Tonique Lewis, argued that her client was not a flight risk, highlighting that he had made no attempt to flee during his release from 2021 to 2024. She also said there were no concerns for public safety, as Pinder had been on release for several years without incident. Ms Lewis further suggested that Pinder’s failure to appear for trial was a “simple mistake” and that he should not face further consequences for this error.
Ms Lewis also contended that it was “unlikely” Pinder’s trial would proceed on May 19, 2025, due to the trial court’s engagement in a long-running case that was unlikely to be completed by that date.
Justice Brathwaite explained that the decision to deny bail was based on Pinder’s prior failure to appear for trial despite the strict conditions attached to his bail. However, he noted that if the trial did not proceed as scheduled, “the situation might be different.”
Pinder will remain on remand at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
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