A man detained by Police investigating the murder of Kellon Hill told a Supreme Court jury he couldn't remember much about events surrounding the incident because he was drinking and smoking that night.

Mr. Hill was stabbed as he left a party at Elbow Beach late on the evening of August 9 2008.

Jamiko Benjamin of Devon Springs Lane, Devonshire said he arrived at Elbow Beach at 10.30 p.m. in a taxi from Cedar Hill with Kevin Warner, two girls, and a boy called Denario.

He said the five of them were dropped at the top of the hill leading to the beach and began to walk down but he turned back.

"I had a bottle of rum I left at the top of the hill and when I went to get it, people were fighting at the top. As soon as I picked the bottle up, that's when everything was happening," he said.

Asked by Crown prosecutor Michael McColm how he knew a fight was happening, Mr. Benjamin said: "I heard a lot of noise. I heard girls screaming. I started making my way down towards the incident.

"I just saw a lot of people fighting. I saw probably about four people in the fight. I couldn't really make out who was doing what to who. I just saw the fists. I tried to break it up."

Prosecutors alleged when opening the case that Kellan Lewis, 17, and Gary Hollis, 16, snatched a gold chain from around Mr. Hill's neck.

A fight ensued, and Kevin Warner, 19, Devon Hairston, 18, and a girl, Zharrin Simmons, 17, are alleged to have joined the other two in striking Mr. Hill.

Next, Lewis is alleged to have removed a knife from his pants and stabbed the victim around his chest and body, before Simmons stuck Mr. Hill with a screwdriver.

The court heard Mr. Hill stayed on his feet and tried to get away but was struck with a walking cane by Warner who used so much force that it broke. The defendants deny murder and individual charges of possessing weapons.

When Mr. McColm quizzed the witness on Mr. Hill's actions during the fight, Mr. Benjamin said: "He was fighting back just trying to protect himself.

"He was running around trying to get away from people hitting him I guess."

Mr. Benjamin continued: "I pulled him away from the crowd and that's when he fell on the ground and then a girl must have said 'he's bleeding' or 'he got stabbed'.

"I pulled his arm back and I stood in the way of like the fight."

Asked again who was fighting, Mr. Benjamin said: "I just saw Kellan, Devon and Gary."

Later in his evidence, Mr. Benjamin said: "I just saw a bunch of fists fighting. I didn't see nothing. I told you I was drinking and smoking."

He said he didn't see where Mr. Hill's attackers where and last saw them when the fight stopped.

Mr. Benjamin said he left after the Police came and got in a taxi to pick up Denario, Hollis, Warner and Lewis at the Seventh-day Adventist church on South Shore.

He said they went to Lewis' house near White Hill and went "straight sleep" until Police officers came and arrested them.

Mr. Benjamin was taken in a car by himself to the Southside Police Station and interviewed two days later by detectives with his lawyer Peter Farge.

Forensics expert Candy Zulegar took the stand again yesterday and was cross-examined by counsel for Lewis, John Perry QC

She told the court Mr. Benjamin's DNA was found in a taxi and Mr. Hill's blood was on his shorts.

The trial continues.