Trial for 2011 murder of Raymond “Killa” Gentle concludes

Corwin Bennett

Back in January 2011, Kraal Road gang leader, Raymond Gentle, aka “Killa”, was executed at his jobsite in Belize City while he and his co-workers were building a wooden structure.  Today, the person accused of the violent execution saw his trial by judge come to an end.  He is twenty-year-old Corwin Bennett, and he will learn his fate within a few weeks, as Judge Adolph Lucas reserved his ruling for March fifth, 2014. The allegations made by the crown in the case against Bennett are that on January twelfth, 2011, Bennett and another male pulled up in the area of Kraal Road.  One of the men stood watch as the other ran into the area and opened fired on Gentle, who was working diligently on building a house.  A total of seventeen gunshot wounds were found on Gentle’s bullet-riddled body and according to the doctor’s examination, six were entry wounds. The prosecution at the end of the trial, called fourteen witnesses, their main witness being Gentle’s brother, Elvis Bevans, the man who not only saw his brother murdered, but chased behind his allege shooter and almost got shot. Bevans who had attended an identification parade had picked out his brother’s alleged killer as the defendant, Corwin Bennett; however, in court during the trial, Bevans never identified Bennett as his brother’s shooter. He told the court that he was also shot at by the assailant, but escaped injuries when the gun jammed.   In his defense, Bennett told the court that the only reason he gave the statements to police was because he was allegedly threaten by a well-known George Street associate, who he claim threatened him, saying that if he does not take the rap, he will be killed.