A MURDER charge was dismissed against two men on Thursday by City Magistrate Dylon Bess after insufficient evidence was provided by the prosecution during the Preliminary Inquiry (PI).

Negus Lamaizon of Lot 51 D’Urban Street, Georgetown and Samuel McIntyre walked out of the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court free men after the Magistrate dismissed the charges at the end of the PI. The matter was prosecuted by Sergeant Tracy-May Gittens; Lamaizon was represented by Attorney Lyndon Amsterdam while attorney Adrian Thompson represented McIntyre.

The men were jointly charged with the capital offence which alleged that on August 01, 2016 at Lot 89 Laing Avenue, Georgetown they murdered Malik David known as ‘Orin.’ A total of 12 witnesses were called during the PI to testify and according to Magistrate Bess, none of the witnesses during their testimony actually saw the two men discharged any rounds or inflicted injuries to David on the day in question.

In his ruling, Magistrate Bess said that his role in the PI is to look at the evidence and make assessment to determine whether a prima facie is made out against the accused and not to determine whether they are guilty of the offence.

As such, based on the evidence presented during the trial, the matter was dismissed due to lack of evidence. Meanwhile, two more men were also charged with the same offence and are before Magistrate Judy Latchman.

David, a taxi driver, was gunned down in front of his Lot 89 Laing Avenue, Georgetown home around 15:00hrs, in the presence of his reputed wife and other relatives. The 33-year-old was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital, shortly after one of five men came out of a car and pumped several bullets into him. Police recovered a number of 9mm bullet casings at the scene.

According to reports, David had several confrontations with an Agricola, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident whom he had bailed out of jail some time last year. David and the individual were involved in a heated argument again, since the Agricola resident had refused to return the $150,000 David had paid to have him released.

After the argument, the Agricola resident went away, but later returned with four other men in two vehicles and executed the former murder accused.