Ramsey was accused of trying to kill Lincoln Broaster and Cecilio Madrill in 2008
This evening a jury of nine persons found Leeroy Ramsey, 28, guilty of two counts of attempted murder after hearing the Crown’s case, presented by Sheneiza Smith.
Police say that in the wee hours of February 19, 2008, Ramsey attempted to kill Lincoln Broaster and Cecilio Madrill when he fired shots in their direction, one of which caught Broaster, while the men were on Racoon Street.
After the shooting, Broaster had given police a statement in which he identified Ramsey as the person who shot him. Broaster had been shot in the left side of his chest, and his statement was corroborated by a witness, Robert Wagner, who was on the other side of the street when the altercation had occurred.
The alleged motive for the shooting was a misunderstanding between Broaster and Ramsey at a club, at the end of which Ramsey had vowed that he would be returning later.
When Broaster took the stand, he started to give testimony contrary to what was in the statement he had given to police in 2008. At this juncture, the Crown asked that he be treated as a hostile witness and the judge, Justice Troadio Gonzalez, allowed it.
During the cross-examination of Broaster, he admitted that he had told police that he saw Ramsey shoot him that night.
During Wagner’s testimony, he told the court that he had witnessed an altercation involving the three men at a club and that one of the men, Ramsey, had told Broaster and Madrill that he would circle back. Although Madrill did not show up to testify in the trial, the testimonies from Broaster and Wagner were enough for the jury.
Ramsey, who was unrepresented, gave a dock statement and said that he and his common-law wife, Stacey Williams, were at the park where they had bought food. They left the park and went straight home, where they ate the food and went to bed. Ramsey told the court that he did not leave his house after that.
Williams then told the court that she and Ramsey were at home asleep at the time of the shooting. She said that she knew Ramsey didn’t leave the house because she is a light sleeper and would have awakened if he had left.
But, as we mentioned, the jury didn’t believe their stories and after just over an hour, returned with unanimous guilty verdicts on both counts.
Ramsey was obviously shocked when he heard the verdict and almost couldn’t speak when the judge asked him if he needed time to present any witnesses for his mitigation before being sentenced.
Sentencing has been deferred to April 26, 2013.