Man accused of killing 14-year-old remanded

One of six St James men implicated in the 2017 shooting death of 14-year-old Jordane Blackwood was denied bail when he appeared in the St James Parish Court recently.

However, his co-accused was granted bail. 

Norval Christopher and Odane Nesbeth appeared before Presiding Judge Sandria Wong-Small along with Odane Christopher, Renaldo Lee, Kasheef Gilbert and Jahrome Shelton on charges of murder and wounding, stemming from the death of the teenager and the injuring of another man in the same incident.

The allegations are that, on July 29, 2017, Blackwood and the other man were accosted by men from Rose Heights in St James, who accused them of stealing from a farm in the area.

A dispute ensued, and Blackwood was shot and later pronounced dead at hospital. The other man was shot and injured.

During Norval Christopher’s bail hearing, his attorney, Kenneth McLeod, admitted that his client has an ongoing case in the Western Regional Gun Court.

No prior convictions

“Before this matter came before the court, my client had no previous convictions, though he has a matter in the Gun Court for illegal possession of a firearm. A lot of the other defendants have been offered bail,” McLeod told Wong-Small.

“The problem is that the others do not have matters downstairs in the Gun Court. I am not minded at this point to grant Mr Christopher bail,” Wong-Small replied.

Meanwhile, Nesbeth was offered bail in the sum of $450,000 with three sureties, and was instructed to report daily to the police and to keep away from Rose Heights.

Norval Christopher, Odane Christopher, Nesbeth and Shelton were subsequently remanded in custody, while Lee and Gilbert had their bails extended. Their case will be mentioned again on April 19.