Police Charged For Killing Spragga Benz's Son Acquitted

Contsables Audley Lawrence and Andre Hare, the two police officers charged in the death of the son of dancehall artist Spragga Benz was aquitted of the charges last week.

A 12-member panel of jury returned a not guilty verdict after Supreme Court judge Horace Marsh upheld a no-case submissions from defence lawyers Valerie Neita-Robertson and Carolyn Reid-Cameron.

The cops are accused of killing Spragga’s 17-year-old son Carlton Grant Jr on August 23, 2008. The prosecution said Grant was unarmed when he was shot by the accused police men.

According to evidence presented to the court, on the day of the incident, Grant and another young man were riding a bicycle, downtown Kingston, when they were stopped by the police. The young men were told to run and while running, the police allegedly fired shots at them. Grant was fatally shot.

Police initial reports suggested that Grant and another man were riding a bicycle along Church Street, downtown Kingston, when the police stopped them. The police said shots were fired at them and they returned the fire. The police claimed that Grant was accidentally shot by the man who was travelling on the bicycle with him.