Log In

Reset Password
BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Defendant was the last person seen with shooting victim, witness tells court

First Prev 1 2 Next Last
Kevin Warner is taken from Supreme Court One Monday where he is on trial for the murder of Dekimo Martin.

Murder accused Kevin Warner was the last person seen with 24-year-old Dekimo “Purple” Martin minutes before he was shot dead, according to a witness.Anthony Seymour gave evidence in the trial of Mr Warner, 21, charged with the premeditated murder of Mr Martin on May 28 last year.Mr Warner, of Warwick Park Road in Warwick, is also charged with carrying a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence on the same date. He has denied both charges.Mr Seymour told Supreme Court yesterday he spent the evening of May 27 last year talking with Mr Martin, his uncle Robin Lewis and the family friend Mr Warner.Around midnight he remembered serving a final portion of lamb to the men, before putting the meat away in the fridge and heading to bed.Mr Seymour, who lived at the same property as Mr Martin on Peacock Crescent in Sandys, said he could hear the young men outside as they continued their conversation.Approximately five or ten minutes later he was jolted from his bed by three loud gun shots, he told the court.“I crawled out of bed and walked towards the living room to ask if everyone else heard that and to let them know I believe it was gun shots.“At one point there was a little bit of panic or self preservation maybe. We turned off the lights and did some kind of a headcount.”The witness said himself and Mr Lewis went outside once they realised the only person not accounted for was Mr Martin.Mr Seymour said he saw the 24-year-old laying on his back upside down on the steps and tried to perform CPR.“I put my fingers on his carotid artery to check for a pulse and I didn’t feel anything so I grabbed him by his arms and pulled him roughly 30 feet to where there is a light on the corner of the building.“At that point I remember kneeling down and putting my ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat.“No, I didn’t hear one. So I checked his mouth for an airway and started performing CPR.”He noticed Mr Martin’s undervest was covered in blood and that he had a bullet hole in his chest.When asked by prosecutor Carrington Mahoney, Mr Seymour said he didn’t notice Mr Warner on the property after the shooting or know of him making any contact with anyone from that household afterwards.Mr Warner’s lawyer Kim Hollis QC asked the witness if he was certain who Mr Martin was talking with outside after he had left.Mr Seymour said he could still hear the two men’s voices outside while he was in the kitchen.However, he couldn’t say where Mr Warner went after leaving the property.Earlier yesterday Mr Lewis told the court that Mr Warner appeared “upset” when he came to the house looking for his nephew that day.He said after coming home from work he opened a cold beer and was “winding down” when the accused had shown up at the house looking for Mr Martin.“He was upset he hadn’t seen Dekimo and he had his bike. He appeared upset to me,” Mr Lewis told the court, during questioning by Mr Mahoney.During cross examination, Ms Hollis asked Mr Lewis: what gave you the impression Mr Warner had an attitude?“If someone got my brand new bike and I am looking for them and I can’t find them then I am going to have an attitude, that is the way I would be,” Mr Lewis replied.He said Mr Warner, who was a friend to both his son Kellan and daughter Chelsea, didn’t normally act that way.Despite being upset earlier in the evening, Mr Warner and his nephew appeared to be getting along later that night, said Mr Lewis.The case continues this afternoon before Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.

Dekimo (Purple) Martin