Sharon Fraser, the mother of the teen who was shot dead by a policeman in 2010, is distressed at the outcome of the trial, while noting that from the evidence presented to the court the policeman should have been found guilty at least of manslaughter.
The grief-stricken woman recently told Stabroek News amidst tears that based on the evidence presented by the ballistics expert, her son could not have been fatally shot during a scuffle as was claimed. She also questioned why the evidence presented by one of the main witnesses, Fernando Ghani, at the preliminary inquiry (PI) was not presented at the trial. Ghani reportedly committed suicide about a year ago.
Fraser said this evidence coupled with that given by the ballistics expert should have been enough to convict ex-policeman Quancy John.
John, who was charged with the murder of 16-year-old Kelvin Fraser on June 7, 2010 at Patentia, West Bank Demerara (WBD) was freed just over a week ago.
Like other members of her family, Fraser said she is frustrated as it is clear she will never get justice. As such she is now leaving the matter in the hands of God, as according to her he is the only one who will ever give her justice.
Fraser told Stabroek News in a recent interview that she never expected the case to end this way. “Something doesn’t look right to me,” she said while shaking her head.
She said the judge asked the jury for their verdict twice and that had caused her some concern.
She went on to comment that though that was the date for decision, John would not have known whether he would be going home, yet his bags were already packed and waiting outside the court. “As soon as we come down the step I see he bags right there… A green and white bus been right there and the two bags been right there. So I don’t know how he clothes reach there already,” she said.
Fraser later said that the prosecutor told her that there wasn’t any evidence for a murder conviction as there was no eyewitness to prove this. However, the prosecutor did say that there was enough evidence to prove manslaughter. Fraser said she was told that it was the judge who took the decision to take out the manslaughter verdict saying that it would either be guilty of murder or not guilty. “Why did he take out manslaughter?” she asked, expressing the view that it should have been left up to the jury to decide on whether John was guilty of murder or manslaughter or whether he was not guilty.
She said that the PI lasted for about a year at the Wales Magistrate’s Court and about 21 witnesses testified. During the trial which lasted three weeks 16 witnesses testified.
Fraser stated that the ballistics expert in his evidence said that the gun could not have gone off like that. She recalled the man testifying that even if there was a scuffle, only the person who had control of the weapon could fire it by putting five pounds of pressure on the trigger.
She recalled that while the expert was giving his evidence, John’s lawyer Glen Hanoman asked the witness, “You sure, you sure it can’t happen?”
“He knows and God knows what he did that day,” she said, stating that she should have been given the opportunity to address the court.
She said she was informed that John was at another location prior to the shooting. She said when the court had asked him where he was he said that he went to Vriesland (WBD) to arrest a man. She said that based on her information, he was indeed in that area but not for that purpose.
“He was just hyped up. He was ignorant that day,” she said.
She said that she is dissatisfied with how the matter was investigated since if thorough work had been done, the police would have been able to pick up more information on the behaviour of the rank prior to the shooting.
Fraser said that the doctor who testified also give valuable evidence.
Main witness testimony
She said that she became aware that Ghani who was one of the main witnesses had died when this information was relayed to the court during the trial. She said that she was surprised at this announcement and she noted that no details were given about how he died.
Stabroek News has since learnt that the youth who lived in the Long Pond area ingested poison and hanged himself. He apparently had some personal issues and was subject to police harassment, during which he was accused of causing Kelvin’s death.
Fraser stated that Ghani’s statement was never read during the trial. She opined that it should have been, given the fact that he was probably the person closest to the scene and may have seen most of what transpired.
She said she was informed that though Ghani and another young man were sitting in the tray of the police vehicle at the time, it was Ghani who had seen everything.
A legal source explained that in circumstances such as these where a main witness in a court case has died, once that person had testified at the PI that evidence can be tendered at the trial and read.
It is unclear why this was not done in this case.
Fraser continuously questioned how her son could have been shot with a long gun in the left side of his chest during a scuffle. The woman went on to explain that the shot was fired at an angle and the bullet travelled in a downward direction.
She said a lot of things were excluded from the trial even though they were presented to the court during the PI. According to her, the pictures taken of her son’s body after he was shot were excluded from the trial. She said it was John’s lawyer Glen Hanoman who raised objections to pictures being shown to the jury. It was stated that no relative was present when the pictures were taken and as such there was no certainty that the pictures were of Kelvin’s body. It was on these grounds that Hanoman objected to the pictures being shown to the jury, Fraser told Stabroek News.
“I know that at some point I will get justice,” she said adding that the last three weeks have been the most difficult for her as she sat and listened to her son’s case a second time. Fraser, who said she had to quit her job after she couldn’t get time off to attend the trial, told this newspaper that she had an 18-year-old daughter to whom she devotes her energies.
Since the shooting, Fraser has relocated to the city. She said Patentia brings back too many heartbreaking memories and she could not bear to be there any more.
“The pain is still raw. Sitting in court for 3 weeks just hurt me. It upset me,” she said.
She also expressed concern at the make-up of the jury. She said they all appeared to be young people. Just before they returned with the verdict, she had queried whether these persons were well educated or knew anything about the law. “Since this story with Kelvin I does pray a lot and I have forgiven him for killing my son…
“What happened to me I don’t want it to happen to no other mother. It is not an easy pain. It is an everlasting pain you would feel till you die,” she said fighting back tears. She said that on June 7, 2010 a part of her was taken away and it is in this regard that she tries to take care of her daughter.
Kelvin was allegedly shot and killed by the rank while he was reportedly fleeing police officers who had gone to the Patentia Secondary School following complaints of young men interfering with girls at the school. The teen was a fourth-form student of the school, but had not attended classes that day. At the time of the shooting he had gone to check on his girlfriend who was also a student of the school.
John, 34, of 325 Kuru Kuru, Linden-Soesdyke Highway was charged with the murder of Kelvin after weeks of public outcry and protests by secondary school students in front of the Wales Police Station.
An autopsy found that the teen died of shock and haemorrhage from laceration of the lungs caused by gunshot injuries. The teenager was shot in the left side of his chest at close range and several pellets were retrieved from his body.
Witnesses had told this newspaper that they heard no sounds of scuffling, only a gunshot.
About a week after the killing Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had conceded that the policeman who fired the fatal shot had acted improperly.
