Not Guilty! Michelle Brown is Freed of the Murder of Fareed Ahmad
Michelle Brown
We begin tonight’s newscast from the Supreme Court in Belize City with a ruling in the murder case involving well-known barber Fareed Ahmad. On December twenty-eighth, 2017 Ahmad was killed. He died while receiving treatment at the K.H.M.H. after he was shot in the head inside his vehicle that crashed on the side of the road between miles sixteen and seventeen on the George Price Highway. Woman Police Constable Michelle Brown was pinned inside the BMW SUV on the passenger side; her service-issued weapon was discovered in the vehicle and was determined to have been used in Ahmad’s shooting. He had made several complaints to the Professional Standards Branch of harassment by the department. Brown was later charged for his murder and trial began earlier this year before Supreme Court Justice Colin Williams. Today, the trial on the murder of Ahmad came to an end and Brown was found not guilty of the crime, based on insufficient evidence presented to the courts. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Fareed Ahmad
Duane Moody, Reporting
Arguably the most prominent Supreme Court trial of 2020 came to an end today in the courtroom of Justice Colin Williams. The judge ruled that Police Constable Michelle Brown is not guilty of the December 2017 murder of well-known barber Fareed Ahmad. Trial began in late November in which testimonies by key witnesses were heard – some reliable and others were completely disregarded. In conclusion, Justice Williams felt that the prosecution had not satisfied the court that Brown was guilty of murder.
Taheera Ahmad
Taheera Ahmad, Sister of Deceased
“From the onset of this incident, we had, as a family, we were resolute to leave the matter up to the court and the hands of the law. And so there is a verdict and we respect that verdict and as a family, we will just continue to move on, pick up the pieces and move on from here.”
Inconsistencies in the evidence presented by the prosecution coupled with quote-unquote disappearing evidence, which include photographs taken at the scene, but not submitted in court. Not to mention particles and swabs taken by scenes of crime personnel from Fareed’s BMW SUV that were documented, but were never heard of or presented in court. Present for the ruling today were members of the Ahmad family. Following the ruling, we asked Taheera Ahmad about her take on these comments.
Taheera Ahmad
“We had every optimism and respect for the process of the law and so yes, we did hear some disheartening missing pieces, but we have to respect the verdict and the process that took its course.”
Duane Moody
“Ma’am the fact is that essentially you guys are not getting justice for the death of your brother.”
Taheera Ahmad
“Well justice for us means Fareed being here. And if Fareed is not here then…you know…it’s, it’s…”
Justice Williams also looked at the cause of death of Fareed. A report says that his death was due to a brain injury sustained when the vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle after he was shot. In his ruling, the judge noted that he did not believe portions of Brown’s testimony where she said that a third person got into Fareed’s vehicle whom she recognised by voice as a member of the Special Assignment Team out of sheer coincidence. The woman police officer accused that person as the triggerman.
Taheera Ahmad
“Well I think quite a bit came up during the trial. I think as well there were certain names of officers that she also mentioned and maybe that is an element for question in terms of prosecution and the D.P.P. office. Why were those missing pieces not presented in the trial. It’s unfortunate how it ended up, but this is the process and we have to respect what arise out of it.”
Reporter
“So what is the next step for healing for your family given that the culprit, whoever that person is, is still out here?”
Taheera Ahmad
“You know, at the end of the day, we are also a God-fearing family and so that person or those persons will have to live with what they did and will have to give account to the best of judge and so we will live with that. But in terms of picking up the pieces, we will go and continue remembering Fareed as the loving brother and caring son and father and loving husband as he was and continue living with those cherished memories as we have been doing for the past three to four years.”
Now for years, including the day prior to the killing of Fareed, the Ahmad family had been making complaints of police harassment and being targeted by the department. Almost three years after his death, has the aggravation stopped?
Taheera Ahmad
“You highlight something that our family has been struggling with for a couple of years. The fact that we have been unnecessarily harassed and being targeted unjustifiably. We hope now that the fact that the process has taken its course and there was an investigation and there was a trial and this is the outcome of it, we just hope now that our family can continue to live in peace and all the harassment and ongoing surveillance over us is ceased.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
