Latest update June 4th, 2026 12:30 AM
Nine-year-old rape/murder trial….Judge overrules no-case submission
Justice Navindra Singh yesterday overruled a no-case submission (arguments that the court has no case against their clients) that was presented by Attorneys Raymond Alli and George Thomas, who are representing the two persons accused of the rape and murder of nine-year-old, Sade Stoby.
The men were yesterday required to lead their own defence. Javon Wharton denied that he had anything to do with the murder of Stoby. According to Wharton, on the day that Stoby was killed he was at work.
He told the court that he was beaten and forced to give a statement to the police admitting to the crime. He called two witnesses in his defence, his cousin Owen Trim and Jadesh Kumar Ramkissoon, Sales Manager at Hacks Hollow Blocks.
The first witness, Owen Trim told the court that on November 2, 2007 he and Wharton were working at Hack’s Hallow Blocks at Providence EBD.
Trim said that they worked up until 14:30 hrs and left around 15:30 hrs. According to the witness, he joined a minibus and left Wharton riding on the Mocha main road.
Under cross examination by State Prosecutor Judith Gildharie-Mursalin, Trim was asked why he remembered the time on November 2, 2007, specifically. According to the witness, they would normally leave around that time.
Jadesh Kumar Ramkissoon said that he saw Wharton up until 15:30 hrs on November 2, 2007. The witness said that Wharton was paid and that was the last he saw of him.
Under cross examination Ramkissoon said he had about 30 other men working with him. He said that Wharton had only worked with him for about 21 days. Ramkissoon, who was under oath, admitted that he would falsify work documents to show that workers left at 16:00hrs when actually they would leave before.
The other accused, Charles Cush, also denied that he had anything to do with the death of Stoby. He however had no witnesses to call on his behalf.
At the opening of the case State Prosecutor, Judith Gildharie Mursalin had detailed that on November 5, 2007, the nine-year-old girl, who had gone missing for three days, was discovered near a ditch a short distance from her Barnwell North, Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara home.
The evidence suggested that the girl had been raped and murdered. After the discovery was made, the child’s alleged killers were identified as Wharton and Cush, two teenagers who lived in her village.
On Tuesday, General Practitioner Dr. Mohan Persaud read out his finding in relation to medical examinations which he had conducted on Cush and Wharton after they were arrested for their alleged involvement in the rape and murder of Stoby.
Persaud told the court that he found lacerations and abrasions on the private areas of the two boys which suggested their involvement in sexual intercourse, “particularly in a forceful manner”.
Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh also presented his evidence to the court. The Pathologist detailed that the child had died due to asphyxiation from submersion (drowning) compounded by blunt trauma.
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