The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

Pbailey@tribunemedia.net

PROSECUTORS cross-examined a man yesterday who claimed police beat him and forced him to confess to the murder of two teenage boys who were shot and killed in Yellow Elder Gardens in 2017.

Deon Scavella, 30, gave evidence in his defence during his trial before Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez in the Supreme Court.

Prosecutors allege that 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.

He claimed on Tuesday that he was forced to confess after police tortured him at CDU.

Scavella told the prosecution he did not scream when Officer Raphael Miller put a bag over his head and choked him.

While the prosecution said Scavella had previously mentioned a struggle, he said he struggled to breathe during the incident.

The prosecution submitted that Scavella had earlier described the item used to choke him as an evidence bag. However, Scavella said it was a fish bag.

The defendant told the jury he was choked with a fish bag the day before.

When the prosecutor pointed out inconsistencies in a report about where his hands were cuffed, Scavella attributed this to him being a fast talker.

He maintained that he was handcuffed behind his back on a chair.

Scavella told the prosecutor he signalled with his hands and foot for the officers to stop.

The defendant agreed that a report, dated before March of this year, said an evidence bag was allegedly placed over his head. He also agreed there was a difference between an evidence bag and a fish bag.

After the prosecutor suggested the bag was too small for him to bite through, Scavella said, “if you are struggling in real life, you would do anything to breathe.”

He said that after he denied committing the murders the first time and the bag was placed over his head again, four officers were present and blows came from everywhere.

He further claimed he was thrown onto the floor and stomped on for a while. He said he felt pain.

While he could not say who pushed him, Scavella said he fell onto his side.

Scavella said he again signalled for the officers to stop before agreeing to comply with their demands.

He agreed with the prosecutor that there were two marks on his head in a video.

He claimed he suffered a 1¾-inch injury to his temple.

He said officers gave him a shirt to put on.

Scavella claimed the fabricated script officers gave him said he was stabbed in the back by one of the deceased in prison.

In a taped interview, Scavella is heard saying he was “jooked” by someone and that when he put his hand to his back, he felt blood.

When the prosecutor said Scavella gestured to where he was stabbed in a video, he said he was only rubbing his side.

Marianne Cadet represented the accused.

Shaneka Carey and Davina Pinder were the prosecutors.