Teenager drank and smoked joints in the hours before his shooting
Teenage gun victim Jahrockia Smith-Hassell admitted drinking liquor and smoking cannabis in the hours leading up to his shooting but denied being drunk by the time the gunman appeared.The 17-year-old claims he was sober enough to identify the man who shot him three times on the night of March 25 as Royunde Stevens Cyrus.Mr Cyrus, 24, has denied attempted murder and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence.The victim was 16 when he was gunned down just before midnight, while socialising outside his Rambling Lane, Pembroke residence.Under questioning from Mr Cyrus’s lawyer, Shade Subair, Mr Smith-Hassell said he had been drinking Chivas and Hennessy, and smoked five or six joints through the course of the day.He denied taking part in gang activity but admitted he had close friends involved in the Island’s gang scene.Earlier in the trial, he testified that his older brother, Tafari, who no longer resides in Bermuda, had moved to St Monica’s Road, in part because “Parkside people” had been determined to kill him.This morning, the victim agreed that neither he nor his brother had received personal threats from Mr Cyrus“You see glamour in the gang life, don’t you?” Ms Subair asked him. Mr Smith-Hassell replied: “No.”“But you admit you have a few personal enemies that have nothing to do with your brother Tafari.”Mr Smith-Hassell answered: “A few do, and a few don’t.”He told the court that he did not think his two or three personal enemies disliked him strongly enough to wish him physical harm.The jury then viewed an extensive album of Facebook pictures showing the witness and friends, some of whom were present on Rambling Lane in the lead-up to the shooting, signifying with their hands the “signs” of different groups and neighbourhoods around Bermuda.The victim denied being an admirer of US gangs such as the Crips and Bloods.Ms Subair compared this week’s testimony with the victim’s earlier statements to police and evidence provided to a Magistrates’ Court inquiry in August.At the preliminary inquiry, Mr Smith-Hassell told the court: “Parkside means nothing really to me. Parkside is a gang, you lot say, but it’s just a place where people chill.”Mr Smith-Hassell agreed that he stood by the statement.On the night of the shooting, the victim and his friends were approached by two men who asked for a cigarette.In the Supreme Court trial, Mr Smith-Hassell described the pair as staring at them, and giving “dirty looks” to one of his friends. He admitted that he had not provided these details to police, when they questioned him as he recovered in hospital from the shooting.Ms Subair continued: “This man who appeared on Rambling Lane and shot you that was the same person who appeared earlier in company with someone, and asked for cigarettes?”Mr Smith-Hassell agreed, and said he had been able to see their faces.He said he saw a lone man walking nearby approximately 30 minutes after that encounter. The man, whom Mr Smith-Hassell maintains was Mr Cyrus, then approached him on Rambling Lane.“You’re saying that when he was in front of your door, that’s when you recognised him?” Ms Subair asked.The victim agreed.The case continues.