Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A man from Carenage has been convicted of murdering a fellow resident 14 years ago.
Marlon “Soca” Jordan was found guilty of the crime by a 12-member jury before High Court judge Gail Gonzales at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain on Friday afternoon.
Jordan was accused of murdering 30-year-old Sherwin “Tupac” Ashton on April 6, 2009.
Ashton was standing on a flight of stairs near his home at Smith Hill in Carenage, when he was ambushed by two gunmen who shot him several times before running away.
During the trial, prosecutors had to rely on the evidence of Ashton’s friend Jelani Warner, who claimed to have witnessed the crime but only came forward to implicate Jordan one month after.
Warner was murdered near his parents’ home at Thompson Circular, Carenage, on June 13, 2018.
Prosecutors applied under the Evidence Act for the statement he gave to the police and his testimony during the preliminary inquiry to be used as evidence.
While Gonzales immediately sentenced Jordan to hang for the crime, it is highly unlikely that he will face the mandatory death penalty for murder, as the last time it was carried out was in 1999.
The sentence can only be carried out if it is done within five years of his conviction and after he has exhausted all his appeals.
If not carried out, his sentence will effectively be commuted and he will have to be sentenced to a definite prison term.
Jordan was represented by Kirk Hogan and Leanna Gittens, while Rhea Libert and Josiah Soo Hon prosecuted.