Not Guilty of Murder

Akeem Smith

Sixteen year old Mayflower Street resident, Darren Trapp, was killed in a grenade attack on May eighteenth, 2008. At least eleven other persons were injured when the explosive was tossed into the crowded area.  Two brothers, Akeem and Kareem Smith were charged for Trapp’s murder; their trial concluded today. Senior Crown Counsel Triennia Young, who prosecuted the case, called eight witnesses, but none of them provided the evidence she had hoped for. The last to take the stand was Alex Myers, who claimed he didn’t remember anything about the incident, not even the date.

Kareem Smith

Young had asked the court’s permission to treat him as a hostile witness, but after a brief recess, she decided not to question Myers any further. After Young closed her case, attorneys Ellis Arnold for Kareem and Tricia Pitts Robateau for Akeem, both made no case submissions on the grounds that there was no evidence against their clients. Justice Adolph Lucas agreed and directed the jury of twelve to find the brothers not guilty since only one of the five elements of murder was proven. The May, 2008 incident was the first of several grenade attacks in the city and a frightening eye-opener to the level of urban warfare that had taken over the streets. Trapp was rushed to the hospital with a severed leg, a missing eye and head trauma, but died in a matter of hours.