Brother of shooting victim in court for crossing crime tape line

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE brother of one of the men who was shot and killed during a suspected gang attack last Thursday was yesterday placed on probation after he admitted going beyond the crime scene tape in an attempt to get to his dying sibling.

Mario Brown, 31, was charged with disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest after he went beyond the police cordon set up after six men were gunned down at the intersection of Jerome Avenue and Chesapeake Road on April 15.

He owned up to the offences when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis yesterday.

The court heard police responded to the shooting incident around 5pm that afternoon. The prosecution said while officers were securing the scene by placing caution tape around the relevant areas, Brown went beyond it. When he was asked to stop, he did not comply. The court was told when officers tried to restrain Brown, he began swinging his hands. He was subsequently cautioned for acting disorderly; however, when officers attempted to arrest him, he pulled away and stated: “Leave me officers, that’s my brother.”

When he was eventually apprehended and questioned in police custody, he denied the offences.

Yesterday, Brown was represented by Wayne Munroe, QC. He told the magistrate the incident was related to the “tragic murder of the six young men” last week and explained that one of the victims was his client’s younger brother.

He said the “human reality” was that his client came on the scene. He also said since there was still “controversy on whether people in the car were alive,” Brown’s “only desire” was to “check on his little brother and see if he was alive so he could help him”.

In response, Magistrate Rolle Davis said while Brown suffered a loss, when there was a crime, it was “absolutely paramount” for officers to cordon off the scene to prevent people from contaminating it. He told Brown while it was a “human trait” to want to help, his actions were not something the court could “close its eyes on”.

As a result, he placed Brown on probation for three months. He said if the defendant failed to be of good behaviour during that time frame, he would be fined $300.

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