Outstanding file delays Quada case
DANCEHALL deejay Quada had his case rescheduled to March 4 when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-way-tree yesterday.
According to the artiste’s attorney-at-law, Bianca Samuels, the hearing was stalled as the prosecution is yet to produce a final statement.
“We were told the investigating officer is on leave and the liaison officer is ill, so neither of them could get the document,” Samuels told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
“The judge made a note that it [March 4] is the final date for the disclosure of that document,” she continued.
Samuels said this was the seventh court appearance for her client and he is eager to prove his innocence.
“Unfortunately, this is not abnormal in terms of the delay in the court system, but no client is aware of that and no client really cares. They just want to have their case resolved,” she said.
“My client is exhausted and understandably so. He’s irritated, he is frustrated, as he has been on the past six occasions. He is anxious to prove his innocence and that process is being delayed further and further,” she continued.
Quada, given name Shacquelle Clarke, was arrested and charged for murder and arson on January 15. He was granted bail in the sum of $500,000 on January 17. He is charged with the murder of Miguel Williams, 30, in Sterling Castle Heights, St Andrew, on April 17, 2019.
According to police reports, an angry mob forced its way into Williams’s house, beaten him, placed tyres around his body and lit him inside the building. He was burnt beyond recognition.
Williams’s murder is believed to be in relation to the murder of eight-year-old Shantae Skyers, a student of Red Hills Primary School.
Skyers had gone missing in April 2019; days after her body was found in Sterling Castle Heights. The deejay is the second person to be charged in connection with Williams’s killing.
In December 2019, 30-year-old Andrew Breakcliffe, otherwise called Grinch, of a Sterling Castle Heights address, was also charged with murder and arson.
Quada — who hails from Bull Bay in Portland — is known for songs, including Hail, Celebration, and More Money More Life.