Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith began the preliminary inquiry into the murder charge against three men accused of the murder of Raheem Requeña, 19, an Excelsior High School student, who was gunned down on December 19, 2012, as he rode his bicycle on Kut Avenue, on the way to visit his grandmother.

Jermaine “Horse” Garnett, 30; his stepson, Cassian Bennett, 23; and Kenneth Barrow, 35, were all arrested and charged for Requeña’s murder.

But the prosecution’s case came under a serious challenge from defense attorneys representing the accused men, and the charge against the accused men could be dismissed if the prosecution is unable to convince the court of the reliability of the main witness’ account of what transpired.

The preliminary inquiry continues on Monday, when Smith is expected to make a ruling on the defense submission.

Anthony Sylvestre and Alifa Elrington-Hyde, who are representing the men, argued that the main witness could not have positively identified the accused men, due to the distance from which she was standing and the lighting condition of the street at the time the shooting occurred.

According to the eyewitness, the men drove up in a car and shot Requeña eight times. Requeña died on the spot.
In addition, the attorneys argued that the main eyewitness had failed to appear in court to explain her field of vision and the lighting condition.

The attorneys submitted that there is not sufficient evidence to justify sending the case for trial to the Supreme Court.

The court’s prosecutor asked the court for an adjournment, so that he could visit the scene of the crime and make his own evaluation.

But the circumstances surrounding the case had taken a dramatic turn in late December 2012 when Pamela Garnett, the wife of Jermaine Garnett, and her other son, Mark Vernon, 24, were arrested and charged for harassing the main eyewitness.

According to the witness, Pamela and Mark tried to pay her to withdraw the statement that she had given to police. However, when that did not work, her life was threatened, the witness reported to police.

In May of last year, the case against Pamela Garnett and Mark Vernon were dismissed for want of prosecution after the witness fled the country.

United States authorities reported to Belize police that they had detained the witness, who told them that she had received a death threat and was fleeing Belize to save her life.