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When 9 year old Joshua Abraham was killed on Independence Day, 2011, it was a tragedy that shook society to its core.  The Standard 2 student had just returned from watching the 21st. Parade.  He was standing on the sidewalk in front of his home on Victoria street - when two men rode past on separate bicycles and began to fire indiscriminately. One of the bullets hit Joshua, and he died shortly after. Â 

It happened in broad daylight, and based on eyewitness accounts, Police said the gunmen were Randy Green and Michael Young.  The pair have been on remand for 5 years – but tonight they are free.  That’s after the prosecution could not get their confession statements admitted and could not get key witnesses to back up their statements in the courtroom. Â 

Christelle Wilson represented 30 year old Randy Green while Baja Shoman represented 27 year old Michael Young.  Wilson told us that after Crown Counsel Janelle Tillett closed her case, and neither caution statements nor witness statements were compelling, she made the no case submission:…

Christelle Wilson - Attorney for Randy Green
"Today she indicated to the court that she doesn't have any witnesses to call and she was prepared to close her case and so I made a no case submission on behalf of the first accused and Ms. Baja Shoman made a no case submission on behalf of the second accused and the essence of our no case submission was that after hearing all the evidence that was called by the prosecution they had initially called 7 witnesses. None of those witnesses had ever identified the 2 accused men as being the persons who caused the death who shot and killed Joshua Abraham on the 21st of September 2011 and this case is a very old case. They had ample time to gather their evidence and bring it and today we put in that no case that there was no case to answer and the judge upheld that application."

Jules Vasquez
"Now I know the DPP's office will complain that again there is cooperation from witnesses."

Christelle Wilson - Attorney for Randy Green
"Like the judge had indicated in the court room that there were certain statements that were given by witnesses. Had those witnesses come and say what was in that statement or what they had allegedly given to police many years ago in the incident was fresh and had just happen; that would have then made maybe have a case to consider whether or not there were guilty or not. But in light of those statements,, those witnesses not coming to court, those statements not being admissible because the recording officer was not here and for other reasons then yes it does play a weight on the case and it did play a weight on this case as to why he had to come to the conclusion -- that is the judge had to come to the conclusion that there was no case to answer."

Jules Vasquez
"Now finally Christelle this isn't really a matter for you, you're the defence attorney but it's one hell of an anti-climax. When Joshua Abraham was killed on Independence Day 2011 it almost over turn the society because it was such a tragic loss and now it ends in this. Your feelings?"

Christelle Wilson - Attorney for Randy Green
"I sympathise with the mother. I'm a mother myself and I understand the heart break she is going through but one thing as a defence attorney that I must stand by is that there are many men in the Kolbe Foundation who have been wrongly accused or have not been given a fair trial. If the evidence is there to convict somebody I think that they should be convicted but I share the sentiment that if there is not enough evidence you must acquit. I know that you want to show the society that we're trying to get rid of crime but we have to find the right people, the people who are guilty, the people who are culpable and the police must make extra effort to get the evidence and have it so strong that the judge will have no other choice but to rule in the favour of the prosecution. So I see it as the community, the police, everybody has to come and work together but like you rightly said Jules that's a very unfair question for me but yes I do sympathise with the family and I hope that in the future justice will always be seen and served and in this case I feel like Randy Green and Michael Young had justice today."

There was a month long trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of the confession statements that were made by Green and Young. At the end of it Justice Adolph Lucas ruled that the statements could not be accepted as evidence because the Crown did not satisfy the court that the statements were given voluntarily. As for the two key eye witnesses, Michael Andrews and Eric Martinez, they both recanted the statements they gave to the police and they were deemed as hostile witnesses. A third alleged eye witness, Nicole Garoy, could not be found. 

Today, we asked the DPP for a statement about the demise of this very high profile case, and she responded with a strongly worded written statement saying, quote, â€œThe manner in which the case proceeded caused the prosecution great anguish. It is really a horrible but real example of what we constantly face in the quest for justice. This was a case that looked strong on paper. There were three eyewitnesses. Two of them resiled from the statements that they gave to the police and claimed that they were unable to identify the shooters, and the third, despite what we thought was a sincere indication that she would attend court and tell the truth, went into hiding. The men had also admitted in written statements that they were at the scene with firearms and had fired shots. They claimed at trial that they had been assaulted by the police and the judge exercised his discretion to exclude the statements. It is unfortunate that when a matter ends in this manner, the Crown is made to bear all the criticism. No one appreciates the effort that is made to even bring these matters to trial and to try to put a case forward. It is as though the prosecution is fighting against everyone in order to do what it is supposed to do and at the end, still gets the blame. I want to commend Ms Tillett who worked so hard on this case and to express our gratitude to Ms Argalles, the mother of the victim who was along with her every step of the way and who really tried her best to assist us.â€￾