Three accused in 2012 Cornbread Mini Mart murder freed based on weak identification evidence

Three men who were on trial for a 2012 murder were freed on Monday after Demerara High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall directed the jury to return a formal not-guilty verdicts because there was no evidence in relation to the identification of the deceased person.

Ray Yokum, Steffon Campbell, and Faisal Moore had been accused of the May 09, 2012 murder of 26-year-old Glen Xavier which occurred at the Cornbread Mini Mart at D’Urban and Lime Streets, Georgetown, during the course/furtherance of a robbery.

Upon their arraignment, the trio had pleaded not guilty to the joint charge. Justice Morris-Ramlall, after analysing the evidence on Monday, said that the prosecution led “absolutely no evidence of identification of the deceased” whose body an autopsy was performed on.

The prosecution’s case, taken at its highest, only has evidence to suggest that a man was shot and that that man was Glen Xavier who was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) by a friend for medical attention, Justice Morris-Ramlall pointed out.

However, she was keen to note that Xavier’s corpse was not identified by someone related to him or familiar with him. In the absence of this crucial piece of identification evidence, the Judge held that the prosecution did not establish the essential ingredients to prove the elements of murder.

In the circumstances, although the three accused had already led their defences, the trial Judge directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty in their favour, discharging them.

At the announcement of the jury’s verdict, Yokum, Campbell, and Moore breathe a sigh of relief while thanking the court for its decision.

Xavier of Harlem, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was shot and killed by three men who stormed the Cornbread Mini Mart at D’Urban and Lime Streets, Georgetown around 9 pm on the day in question. The men who were armed with guns robbed the business of an undisclosed amount of cash before making good their escape on motorcycles.

Xavier, who was shot in his chest and left hand, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. His cause of death was given as haemorrhage and shock, due to gunshot injuries. Another man was also injured during the robbery.

Finding that their defence was insufficiently put to a jury, the Guyana Court of Appeal in February 2021 had quashed the 2017 convictions against Yokum, Campbell, and Moore for Xavier’s murder; while ordering that they face a fresh trial at the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Justice Navindra Singh who had presided over their trial in 2017 had sentenced each of them to 80 years’ imprisonment, ordering further that they become eligible for parole after 40 years.

Yokum, Campbell, and Moore were initially charged with the murder on May 21, 2012, and were remanded to prison. They have been incarcerated since then.