A St Andrew welder, who reportedly strangled a woman to death during a dispute at her home, was again denied bail when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday.
Twenty-year-old Romario Brown of Stony Hill was arrested and charged with murder following the death of Alexia Bepatt on April 8.
The young man is also accused of stealing a laptop belonging to the dead woman’s boyfriend and was charged with larceny from the dwelling.
The court heard that Brown went to visit the woman and both were engaged in adult activities when an argument developed.
It is alleged that, during the argument, Brown kicked the woman off the bed and squeezed her throat.
Bepatt was later found partially naked, lying unconscious at her home in Mona. She was rushed to the University Hospital of the West Indies where she was pronounced dead. According to the prosecutor, a post-mortem report has since revealed that Bepatt died from manual strangulation.
The prosecutor also told Parish Judge Chester Crooks that the accused had fled the scene and was caught after he was picked up on a camera leaving the premises.
The prosecutor said the crown was of the view that Brown would “take away himself” if he was granted bail.
But Brown’s attorney, Davorona Wilson — in renewing her bail application — maintained that Bepatt was alive when her client left the premises.
“When he left the house, she was crying,” Wilson told the court.
Wilson also told the court that two individuals have indicated that the woman suffered from a condition in which she frequently passed out and as such indicated that she needed to see the post-mortem report to see if manual strangulation was, in fact, the actual cause of death.
She also pointed out that her client had surrendered to the police when he was contacted and will not interfere with the witnesses.
The judge subsequently told her that he was in agreement for her to have a look at the post mortem report. However, he said he could not grant the accused bail and remanded him until July 18.
— Tanesha Mundle