A police constable who fatally shot a nine-year-old girl in the inner-city community of Majestic Gardens in St Andrew in 2003, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to manslaughter when he appeared in the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.
Constable Walter Spike, 54, is to be sentenced on June 8.
Spike entered the guilty plea despite being told by his attorney to challenge the case, as he had a reasonable chance of success at trial.
In written instructions to his attorney, Spike told him that because of his religious beliefs, he could not in all good conscience, contest the case. He said he would leave his fate to the judge handling the case.
Reports were that on July 25, 2003, Constable Spike, who was on patrol duty, fired his service pistol at a man he was chasing. The bullet struck nine-year-old Renee Lyons, killing her on the spot.
The incident led to a mass protest in the community.
Before he could be charged, Spike fled to the United States in a reported attempt to seek asylum in that country on the grounds of fear of being killed in Jamaica.
He was held by the US authorities and deported to Jamaica in 2011 after he failed to convince them of the merits of his claim.