The home of a man said to be a key witness in the October 2016 murder of a 10-month-old baby was shot up Saturday night.
No one was injured when unknown assailant(s) opened fire on the Belmont home of Monty Hillocks.
Hillocks was to be called as a witness in the preliminary inquiry into the murder of baby Mozary Lee, who was shot and killed when gunmen opened fire on Hillocks at Lee’s father’s workshop in Glen on Oct. 7, 2016.
Martin “Jahson” James and Ricardo “Shrek” McFee were on Oct. 26, 2017 indicted on the murder of the baby and attempted murder of Hillocks.
The indictment came six months after James and McFee were freed during a preliminary inquiry of the murder charge and two counts of attempted murder.
The attempted murder charges related to gunshot injuries that the baby’s parents, Shelly-Ann Durham and Mozart Lee, suffered in the incident in which the child was killed after being shot in the chest.
The Crown’s case against James and Lee fell apart on April 25, 2017, after Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias refused an application for another adjournment in the case to allow the prosecution to call Hillocks as a witness.
After the adjournment was refused, the prosecution asked for another adjournment to allow the Crown to file an application under the Witness (Special Measures) Act to allow Hillocks to testify remotely.
That application was also refused after lawyers Grant Connell and Israel Bruce, who presented James and McFee objected.
The chief magistrate then upheld no-case submissions made by the accused men’s lawyers and the accused were discharged.
But last week Tuesday, the men appeared before the Calliaqua Magistrate Court on indictment for the murder of the baby, two counts of wounding relating to the baby’s parents, and the attempted murder of Hillocks.
They were remanded into custody and are expected to appear before the High Court on Tuesday.
Last week, James told iWitness News that there is a war underway in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Is a war going on the streets. Everybody know this,” he said while under heavy police guard outside the Calliaqua Magistrate’s Court.
He further alleged that some actors in this “war” have “friends in high places who protecting them”.
Last December, Hillocks, a 36-year-old chauffeur, was arrested and charged with having a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and 14 rounds of 9mm ammunition in his possession at Arnos Vale without a license.
He was taken to the Serious Offences Court, where the chief magistrate granted him EC$20,000 bail.
The charges against Hillocks were dropped in March 2017.