| Murder accused Calvin Bailey contended that he is innocent of killing 18-month-old Shaquan Nero, when he was called upon to lead his defence before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and a mixed 12-member jury yesterday.Murder accused: Calvin BaileyAccording to reports, the cutlass-wielding man chopped the toddler to his throat, during an altercation with his mother Bernadette Nero in April 2007.The infant’s mother had been holding him in her arms during the altercation.Bailey, called ‘Lava’, of Wisroc Housing Scheme; Agricola, East Bank Demerara and Campbellville, Georgetown, had been in hiding following the attack, but was later charged for the murder.State Prosecutors Michael Shahoud and Orinthia Schmidt are presenting the case while the accused is being represented by Attorney Peter Hugh.This is the second trial before a Judge and Jury for the accused. He had faced trials for the offence in 2013 and 2014.Both ended in hung jury verdicts. In his defence, Bailey gave an unsworn statement in which he told the court that it was in fact the child’s mother, who chopped the baby during the altercation.According to Bailey, on the day of the incident,Discount NFL Jerseys, he went to the home of his reputed wife’s aunt in Amelia’s Ward Linden and requested an audience with her,Bvb Trikot G��nstig, but she refused to speak to him.The accused said that as he stood in the yard, Nero spoke to him from inside the house. She told him that she was leaving him and taking their son to Georgetown with her.He said that he warned the woman that he could not allow her to do so since he shared a special bond with his son and would rock him to sleep every night.Bailey said that as he spoke to the mother, the child began to cry,Adidas Factory Outlet Online Store, and after several pleas the woman eventually opened the door and gave him the baby to hold.After a few minutes, the accused told the court that he opted to take the child with him, but the mother attacked him with a knife. The man said that during the altercation,Clearance NCAA Jerseys, he sustained a stab wound to the elbow and as he turned to fight off the mother, the baby was stabbed with the weapon.Bailey said that the baby was taken to the Linden Hospital for treatment, but he was treated for injury at the home of a relative.He said that the mother later contacted him with the news that the baby had succumbed to the injuries, and he told her that he would tell the police that she killed the boy. However the accused claimed that the woman threatened to tell the officers where he planted his weed (marijuana) if he told them that she was the one who chopped their son.Bailey’s testimony came one day after the child’s mother, who currently resides in Barbados, gave an emotional account of the series of events which led to the death of her son.Nero recalled that she was in a relationship with the accused and they shared a home at an area in Wisroc, Linden, where “Rastafarians tabernacle” is.According to her, the relationship was tumultuous and she decided to end it on April 5, 2007. Nero said that on that day, she packed two black bags and left with her baby for her aunt’s residence at Cinderella City, Linden.While at her aunt’s home, the mother related to the court that she heard a knocking on the door and inquired who was there. She said that she got no answer, but later recognized that it was Bailey after she saw him looking through a window at the house.The woman testified that the accused requested to speak with her and when she refused, he became angry and behaved disorderly in the yard.Bailey, the witness said, told her, “Yuh feel yuh could leff me just like that.”However, she recounted that after things calmed down that evening she left the house to carry her baby to her Uncle Alfred’s home. She told the court that while climbing the stairs, Bailey came up behind her and pulled out a cutlass and started chopping her about her body. “Ah start to scream for Uncle Alfred help me. Somebody help me,” the witness recalled.The woman could not contain her emotions as she related that her attacker advanced towards her continuously firing chops. The blade of the cutlass, she said, cut her about her arms and head.But as she tried desperately to fend off her attacker,Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Womens, Nero said she fell on her back,Nike NFL Jerseys China, still holding the baby in her arms. The witness said that the accused fired another chop and it connected to her baby’s throat. She said that blood started to spray all over the landing.Nero told the court that it was at this point that her Uncle Alfred came outside, but Bailey had already jumped off the landing and fled the scene.The mother said that a neighbour assisted with transporting her and the injured baby to the hospital, but the child succumbed while receiving treatment at the Linden Hospital Complex. |
