Delon Small, the accused in the murder of Coast Guardsman Kevon Payne, was yesterday committed to stand trial for the crime.
Small, called ‘Sound,’ is alleged to have murdered Payne on March 29.
On that day, Payne was among a group of men standing on the roadway at Lyng and Sussex streets, Charlestown, when two men armed with firearms rode up on a motorcycle and discharged rounds in their direction.
At the conclusion of the preliminary inquiry into the charge against Small yesterday, Magistrate Leron Daly stated that there was sufficient evidence to call upon him to lead a defence in the matter. When asked if he had anything to say in relation to the crime, Small stated that he did not wish to say anything.
As a result, Magistrate Daly announced that he was being committed to stand trial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Assizes.
Small will remain on remand until that time.
This ruling sent a shockwave throughout the packed courtroom as the families of both Small and Payne began to weep. Tensions mounted outside of the courtroom as family members of the deceased and those of Small had a confrontation but it was quickly dispersed.
Following Payne’s murder, his brother, Vellone Thorne, and another man, Trifon Parris, were accused of killing Gladstone “Tuffy” Taylor in retaliation. Thorne, 30, a jeweller, and Parris, 21, a student at the Government Technical Institute, are alleged to have murdered Taylor on April 1 in front of his Adelaide and Sussex streets, Charlestown residence.
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