Alleged Murderers of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas Denied Bail

Ashton Vanegas & Terrence Fernandez

Two men charged for the brutal murder of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas were today denied bail by Supreme Court Justice Colin Williams. Ashton Vanegas and Terrence Fernandez were among five men who allegedly kidnapped and beheaded Pastor Lucas in 2016.  The men, along with Keiron Fernandez, Ernest Henry Castillo, and the man believed to have orchestrated the heinous crime, William ‘Danny’ Mason, were committed in February of 2017 to stand trial. A date for the trial has been set, which was the primary reason why Vanegas and Fernandez were denied bail. The men were represented by defense attorney Herbert Panton.

Herbert Panton

Herbert Panton, Attorney

“He denied the application basically because he says that a trial date has been set. I believe that a twelfth of March trial date has been set. Also, he found that the reason for not going to trial prior to that was because of delays brought upon by the defense and not by the Crown and so he did not grant the bail. However he has not pronounced, he did not pronounce the criminal procedure rules which say that any matter before the Supreme Court must be concluded within two years. So that rule is still open for other persons who are incarcerated to apply to the court for bail.”

Reporter

“He was saying that your clients did not do case management. Explain that for me.”

 Herbert Panton

“The affidavit filed by the D.P.P. says that on each adjourned date attorneys were not present for the accused but we also pointed out the epicenter of the D.P.P.’s case, the DNA evidence in this matter, was only disclosed to us last week. In her affidavit, she says that they were in possession of these DNA results for quite some time but did not disclose them because they were uncertain as to whom, which attorney represented which accused which is totally ridiculous because you do not disclose to attorneys. You disclose to the persons charged with the offense. If she had disclosed that information to the accused and they realize that this is the kind of evidence that the state has, they would have moved heaven and earth to make sure that their attorneys were present. At the end of the day, the petition was not granted so we move on.”

The men will stand trial in March 2019.