Rising dancehall star Quada will have to wait until March 4, for his murder and arson case to begin after the matter was rescheduled yesterday, January 12. The decision was made after he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-Way-Tree.
His attorney-at-law, Bianca Samuels, explained to the Jamaica Observer that the hearing hit a snag because the prosecution hasn’t produced a final statement as yet.
“We were told the investigating officer is on leave and the liaison officer is ill, so neither of them could get the document,” Samuels said. She added that the judge stipulated a time for the document to be produced. “The judge made a note that it [March 4] is the final date for the disclosure of that document,” she continued.
Samuels also said that this was Quada’s seventh court appearance since the matter began and that he was eager to prove his innocence. “Unfortunately, this is not abnormal in terms of the delay in the court system, but no client is aware of that and no client really cares. They just want to have their case resolved,” she added.
She went on to say that the artiste had become frustrated with the process and that she believed that this was totally understandable.
“My client is exhausted and understandably so. He’s irritated, he is frustrated, as he has been on the past six occasions. He is anxious to prove his innocence and that process is being delayed further and further,” she continued.
On January 15, 2020, Quada was charged with murder and arson. He was granted bail on January 17, in the sum of JM $500,000. Quada, whose real name is Shacquelle Clarke, is facing a charge of the murder of Miguel Williams in Stirling Castle Heights, St Andrew, on April 17, 2019. Williams was 30-years-old.
Police reports indicate that an angry mob forced its way into Williams’s house and beat him before placing tires around his body. They later lit the man on fire inside the building. His body was found burnt beyond recognition. The crowd was believed to be exacting vigilante justice for the murder of eight-year-old Shantae Skyers, a student of Red Hills Primary School.
