SEVERAL witnesses, including the mother of the deceased, testified in the Demerara High Court before Justice Sandil Kissoon as the murder trial into an incident that happened back in 2015 in ‘Warlock,’ East Ruimveldt, opened on Wednesday.

On trial is Delon Henry, called “Nasty Man,” who is indicted for the September 29, 2015 alleged murder of Dexter Griffith at ‘Warlock’ in East Ruimveldt. The accused pleaded not guilty and is being represented by defence attorney Adrian Thompson, while the state is being led by Lisa Cave and Orinthia Schmidt.

In presenting the state’s case, Cave told the court that on the day in question the accused shot and murdered the deceased Griffith at ‘Warlock.’ It was then the first witness, Lavern Griffith, the mother of the deceased took the stand as she recalled how her loved one met his demise.

The witness said in 2015 her son was residing at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, but on weekdays he would visit her home at Lot 465 East Ruimveldt, where he took his daughter to school and would go to work as a mason. In her evidence-in-chief, she related that it was about 15:30hrs when she was sitting by her gate watching the deceased playing football at the ‘Back Circle’ which was close by. Griffith stated after the game had ended, the deceased went to her house for a bath and as he was about to come out, someone called him out and he left the house and went to the nearby ‘Warlock’ area.

Shortly after, the witness added that she went to get her son, because his daughter was crying and while in a conversation with him a man called “Gun Butt” came up to them on a motorcycle and asked for ‘Delon’ and he rode off. Griffith pointed out that she left Dexter sitting and was walking towards her home, when just by her gate she heard what sounded like gunshots.

The woman said she saw a lot of people running but did not see her son and she enquired about him from his children’s mother, when she screamed out saying “Is Dexter.” At this point in her testimony, Griffith began to cry as she related how she went to the scene and saw her son lying in a gutter by a fence after which he was taken to Georgetown Public Hospital.

The witness added that she was present at the GPHC mortuary on October 2, 2015, where she identified the body of her son after which a post-mortem was performed. She was later at his burial at Le Repentir Cemetery on October 7, 2015.

Corporal Rawle Bacchus then took the stand and testified that in September 2015, he was attached to the CID at East La Penitence Police Station and relative to a report of an alleged murder committed on Dexter Griffith, he conducted a probe. He told the court that he witnessed the post-mortem (PM) done by Dr. Nehaul Singh and was also at the burial.
Brother of the deceased, Trayon Griffith, also testified that he was present when his sibling’s body was identified for the PM and was present at his interment. The state is expected to call 13 witnesses and the case will continue today (Thursday) at 09:00hrs.