Diondray McKoy found guilty of the 2009 attempted murder of Everal Gray

Diondray McKoy

A jury of nine persons, six females and three males has decided the fate of a Belize City man, twenty- one year old Diondray Mckoy accused of the June twenty-third 2009 attempted murder of Everal Gray. Gray was shot on Queen Charlotte Street in Belize City .The jurors stepped into the deliberating room this afternoon and late this evening, they handed in a verdict of guilty. In trial, the victim, Gray, testified that he was at home on Queen Charlotte Street on June twenty-third 2009. He claims that at around eight-thirty p.m., he heard someone calling his name and when he went to the door, he saw a man who reached into his pants and pulled out a gun. Gray says he attempted to run away, but the man shot him in the left shoulder, left armpit, and on his right index finger. He ran into his bedroom and collapsed there. When asked about identification of the person who shot him, Gray told the court that he couldn’t see the person very well because the lamp post in front of his house kept flickering. During his testimony, he told the court that he didn’t want to continue with the case, and as a result, the Crown Counsel Sheneiza Smith was forced to treat him as a hostile witness. During cross-examination McKoy got a chance to face his accuser who was unable to tell the court definitely that he was the gunman.  After calling five witnesses, the prosecutor closed its case and McKoy then gave sworn testimony. McKoy from the witness box told the court that at the time of the shooting, he was at his mother’s house. He said, “I never shot at Mr. Gray.” His mother testified on his behalf, and corroborated his story. Having been found guilty, McKoy will be sentenced on November fifteenth.