The family of stabbing victim Jermaine (Red) Pitcher is still looking for answers with regards to the handling of the court cases related to his death.

Mr. Pitcher's relatives have issued a public statement to The Royal Gazette in which they outline their firm belief that the 27-year-old St. George's man's killers should have been charged with murder.

And the family is demanding an explanation from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Khamisi Tokunbo on why the charges against Mr. Pitcher's killers were reduced to manslaughter.

The 27-year-old St. George's man was killed during a brutal street fight outside a Reid Street nightclub in the early hours of February 27, 2000.

Three men have now been convicted of manslaughter in relation to his death - Ryan (Tiger) Ball and Jamal (Knolly) Robinson pleaded guilty while Keniel Ingham was found guilty following a trial.

Over the course of Ingham's trial, the public heard of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Pitcher's death and the extent of his injuries.

Witnesses testified that Ball stabbed the victim repeatedly in the back, while Ingham and Robinson held on to him.

Ball was the first of two men to change his plea to guilty of manslaughter in January.

He was sentenced to ten years in prison during an emotional court session where a number of character witnesses - including former MP Quinton Edness - spoke on his behalf.

When Ingham and Robinson went on trial jointly on manslaughter charges last month, the prosecutor in the case - Dorien Taylor - told the court that the charges against the men had been reduced "out of fairness" after Ball pleaded to manslaughter.

When the joint trial in Supreme Court was forced to be aborted due to a problem with the jury, Robinson changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter and Ingham proceeded to a new trial as the only defendant.

Robinson will be sentenced for his role in the death on Friday. Ingham was found guilty by a unanimous jury and sentenced to 12 years in prison last month.

But after hearing the evidence in Ingham's trial many in the community began to question whether the higher charge of murder should have been applied.

Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt has also called for an explanation from the DPP's office.

But Mr. Tokunbo has refused to comment on why Ball was allowed to plead to a lesser charge.

The Pitcher family has asked that their statement be run in its entirety. The statement which follows has been edited only for grammar.

"In reference to the recent conclusion of the so called manslaughter case of Jermaine Red Pitcher, we would like to raise some points.

First of all, let us make it absolutely clear right up front that we have always disagreed with Bermuda's DPP Khamisi Tokunbo's decision to have Ryan (Tiger) Ball, Jamal (Knolly) Robinson and Keniel Ingham charged with manslaughter and ( we) hold him partly responsible for what should have been a charge of premeditated murder.

We say premeditated murder because Ryan Ball had the time to think out, before leaving the fight (that he and the others mentioned above were involved in), to get a weapon.

And on returning to that same fight with the ungodly intent to kill, (Ball) was confronted by one of the testifying witnesses (in the Keniel Ingham trial) who told him not to do anything because it was not worth it, but consciously ignored their plea and continued on his way to do just that.

Let us not forget Jamal and Keniel held Jermaine until he (Ryan) returned and during the entire slaying.

If only they had not held on to him, Jermaine could have possibly run to safety, which evidently did not happen.

As a result Ryan Ball was able to inflict 19 stab wounds with a nine inch blade, most of which were from behind.

The most fatal of all was the one that entered his back with such intentional force that it nearly came out through Jermaine's chest.

If that was not premeditated murder please tell the community and us what is?

Is it that we live in a small community where there is a probability that, somewhere in the equation, a conflict of interest arises and the hierarchy of class distinction is taken into consideration (i.e.: high profile character witnesses etc.) in the decision making process.

It seems the DPP has accepted a plea bargain. Why?

Because this case should have been premeditated murder and the jury could have heard the same evidence.

If there was any reasonable doubt for the premeditated murder charge in their opinion, then the presiding judge could have given the appropriate instructions on technical points of law and suggested that they deliberate on a lesser charge.

Again, in no way do we agree with the DPP Mr. Tokunbo predetermining a decision that a 12 man/woman jury of equal peers should make and not that of one person. After all what is the purpose a jury?