in the face, a court was told yesterday.

Caines died shortly afterward because the bullet -- which entered his left cheek and lodged in his right shoulder -- destroyed vital nerves.

Franks 32, of Dundonald Street, Pembroke and Teiko Furbert, 25, of Rocklands Estate, Warwick, deny murdering Caines on July 6, 1996.

The Crown alleges that Franks and Furbert murdered Caines when a bullet was fired through a rear door into a Curving Avenue home.

Caines' mother, Sandra Cyrus, testified on day four of her son's murder trial in Supreme Court yesterday.

Responding to questions from Furbert's lawyer Archie Warner, Ms Cyrus said that she had seen Caines around 7 p.m. on July 6, 1996 and he was fine.

But when she saw him later after 9 p.m., he was bleeding from his face.

Ms Cyrus said that at the time she was standing at the gate of her Union Street home with one of her younger sons holding her grandchild.

"I heard James at first because my back was to him. I thought he was joking because he sounded strange,'' she told the jury. "I ran and grabbed him. He was still walking and my son gave the baby to his girlfriend and Jamel and I walked him to the gate.'' Ms Cyrus said James Caines had just come from the entrance to Middletown and they had to get a chair.

His shirt was soaked in blood and was stuck to his chest, she said. Blood was also streaming from both sides of his face "like a tap''.

Ms Cyrus said James was also vomiting blood as she tried to find out what had happened.

"He told me that Franks had shot him. He said it two times but he vomited between that. He told me not to worry and that he was going to die.'' Meanwhile, Brenda Spencer, who lives on South Shore Road in Warwick, told Attorney General Elliott Mottley that she saw Furbert around July 14, 1996 and called him over.

"I asked him what is all this that I have been hearing,'' she said. "And he replied that he was hurt by all the rumours and wanted to clear them all up with the (Caines) family.

"(Furbert) told me that the rumours were not true and I told him that if he knew anything (about the murder) he must do the right thing and I suggested to him to clear it up with Ms Cyrus. She was a mother that was hurting.

"...I told him I would call her and she came (to my house) with one of her sons.'' During the meeting, Furbert spoke with Ms Cyrus and her son Jamaine Caines and he told them that he had nothing to do with James' shooting.

Under cross examination from Mr. Warner, Ms Cyrus said she had accepted Spencer's invitation to come to her home on July 14, 1996 but she did not know that she would see Furbert there.

"Furbert told me that he had asked Mrs. Spencer to call me and he told me he had nothing to do with James' shooting.

"I asked him whether he knew anything about how my son was shot and killed,'' she added. "I was trying to find out if he knew or had heard anything.

"He admitted he had accused James of taking packages (drugs) from guys at the Curve (Curving Avenue) but he told me that he told the guys at the Curve that he had never seen James take any packages.''