Romano Andrews aka Russian, of Peruvian Vale/Clare Valley, will be tried for murder in connection with the Sept. 7, 2023, shooting death of Jervany Baptiste in Buccament Bay.
At the end of a preliminary inquiry at the Serious Offences Court on Dec. 5, Senior Magistrate Colin John held that the prosecution had made out a case for Andrews to answer before a judge and a jury.
Andrews, who did not have a lawyer during the preliminary hearing, will be tried at the next practicable sitting of the High Court.
He is one of two men charged separately with murder in connection with Baptiste’s death.
The other, Orande Dunbar aka Bells, 37, of Rillan Hill, is awaiting the preliminary inquiry into the charge against him.
Baptiste, a 29-year-old construction worker, of Rose Place, was gunned down around 7:55 a.m. while walking to work at the construction site of Sandals Beaches Resort.
Baptiste was shot some 16 times, by a gunman who reportedly fired from two handguns, along the feeder road that runs along the Buccament Bay Secondary School and the SDA Primary School.
Initial reports were that Baptiste was killed by a masked assailant who had been sitting under a small hedge nearby for some time before committing the crime.
Baptiste was wearing headphones when he was set upon as he walked to work.
The shooting took place about 50 yards away from the SDA Primary School as a young student was making his way into the compound.
SVG recorded 55 homicides in 2023, 52 of which have been classified as murder.