DNA in UTech student’s murder to be analysed

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE MAN charged with the January 5 murder of University of Technology (UTech) student Demar Stennett will have to wait until January 23, 2020, to return to the St James Circuit Court as his DNA is currently undergoing laboratory analysis.

High Court Justice Glen Brown gave Rahjif Morgan the new court date and extended his bail yesterday after he was told by the prosecution that Morgan’s DNA sample had been sent off for analysis. The defendant’s DNA sample had previously been requested during his last court appearance on October 23. The prosecution has already received other DNA analysis relating to the case.

Prior to making the ruling, Brown raised concerns about the length of time it was taking to examine Morgan’s DNA, insisting that he felt that the analysis could be done at a rate faster than the prosecution projected.

Morgan, who is represented by attorneyat-law Henry McCurdy, is accused of stabbing Demar Stennett 54 times along Merriam Way, near Westgate Hills in Montego Bay, on January 5. Stennett’s murder was the first one recorded in St James for 2019.

It is alleged that at approximately 7 a.m. on the day of the murder, soldiers assigned to the zone of special operations in Mt Salem were on patrol along Merriam Way when they saw Morgan standing beside a parked car. When questioned, Morgan reportedly told the soldiers that the vehicle had broken down.

However, Morgan’s behaviour and several wounds to his face aroused the soldiers’ suspicion, and when they confronted him, he fled into nearby bushes. The soldiers chased and caught Morgan, who fought with them before being subdued.

Morgan was then taken back to the car, where the soldiers found a bloody knife. He subsequently led them to Stennett’s body.