A murder victim was “scoped out” by his killer an hour before he was fatally shot in a surprise attack, prosecutors told a jury yesterday.

Kiari Tucker, 25, of Warwick, has denied allegations that he murdered Morlan Steede and using a firearm to commit the indictable offence.

As his trial began in the Supreme Court, prosecutors said Mr Steede was attacked at about 9.40pm on November 3, 2017, as he hung out in the One Way Deepdale area of Pembroke.

Carrington Mahoney, for the Crown, told jurors: “The defendant, who had earlier gone to the area to scope out his victim, returned to the area and in a surprise attack, ran down and shot Morlan Steede, who succumbed to his injuries.”

Mr Mahoney said that in the aftermath of the fatal shooting, Mr Tucker went to Court Street before returning home.

“The next day police officers found him hiding in an apartment under a pile of clothes — everybody else in the apartment had stepped out after police had called for them to step out,” Mr Mahoney said.

“He was forensically linked to the murder.”

As the trial began, the jury was shown maps of the Deepdale area, with the scene of the crime and other locations highlighted.

The trial continues.

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