By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A SENIOR police officer testified yesterday that a man on trial for the 2017 killing of two teenage boys in Yellow Elder Gardens admitted to the shootings during a recorded interview.
Assistant Superintendent of Police 2675 Arnold Strachan gave evidence in the Supreme Court trial of Deon Scavella, 30, before Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez.
Prosecutors allege Scavella shot and killed Devonte Lindsey, 15, and Keishon Williams, 13, on March 19, 2017. Their bodies were later found on a dirt road off Graham Drive in Yellow Elder.
ASP Strachan said that during a police interview on May 6, 2017, the defendant said the two boys approached him while he was sitting at his home in Yellow Elder. According to the officer, the accused said he agreed to go with them to remove a car battery and tyres from a vehicle in an area near the baseball stadium known as the gulf.
ASP Strachan told the court that the accused said he shot Vonte while he was removing the battery and that Williams was working on the tyres at the time. The officer said the defendant told him he chased Williams as he tried to flee and shot him as well. The accused then went home.
The officer said the defendant admitted using a 9mm Luger pistol.
ASP Strachan said the accused refused to read over or sign the record of interview.
On May 7, 2017, after leaving the Grove Police Station, the accused showed officers his residence and the scene of the shooting while being driven in a police car, the officer said. A video of that exercise was played in court.
When a recording of the interview was shown, the accused was heard declining to have a lawyer present. He was also heard saying he knew Vonte from time in jail and that he had allegedly been stabbed by him.
In the video, the defendant denied having a gun on May 5, 2017, the day of his arrest. An officer had previously testified that he saw the accused drop a gun from his waist on Lightbourne Avenue as he approached.
Despite that denial, the defendant was heard in the interview admitting to committing the murders and saying he did so because he had beef with one of the deceased from prison. He also said no one else was present when the shootings took place.
ASP Strachan told the court the accused did not appear to be in pain or discomfort in either video. He said no officers oppressed the accused, told him what to say, or put a bag over his head, and that the interview was voluntary.
Marianne Cadet represents the accused. Shaneka Carey and Davina Pinder are the prosecutors.
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