Grenada: St Andrew man found guilty of girlfriend's murder 4 years after incident

Grenada: A 34-year-old man has been found guilty of the death of a 16-year-old four years after the girl died in a tragic fatal shooting incident. The victim at that time was a secondary school student and was shot at a residence in the village of Carriere, St. Andrew.

According to the information, the sentence was made on Thursday when a 12-member jury panel found the accused, Keirson Chitan, guilty of noncapital homicide, which took the life of Lenisha Stafford.

The police said that Stafford died from a single gunshot wound to her head, and the jury earlier this week deliberated for over one hour after High Court Judge Paula Gilford handed over the matter before coming back with the unanimous verdict.

It was also said that the young female was a basketball player from the village of Hermitage in St Patrick at the time of her death and was a student at the McDonald College Secondary School in St Patrick.

The police report also mentioned that at the time of the incident, the victim was with Chitan at this residence in Carriere when villagers reported hearing gunshot sounds.

After a few moments, Chitan came out of the house, claiming that his girlfriend had been shot by someone, but witnesses during the trial said that they saw no one in the area after the shot was fired.

It is to be noted that during the trial also, the defence team led by Dr Francis Alexis together with Dwight Hartford put forward many scenarios to support their claim that their client was not responsible for the act.

In fact, it was claimed that while Chitan was inside one room of the house, someone who was after him entered the house and shot the girl.

As of now, Chitan's sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place on October 7, 2024 but on September 16, the court will get his social inquiry report. The accused who is now facing life imprisonment awaits the decision from High Court Judge Justice Gilford, who will be determining his sentence.