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Oct 11, 2014 News
A witness testifying in the matter in which Better Hope Squatting Area resident, Delon Gordon is on trial for killing his girlfriend Natasha Johnson, recalled that the woman had blamed the accused of starting the fire which subsequently led to her demise.
Gordon is accused of setting his Better Hope Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara home alight on July 4, 2011. According to reports, the incident took place during a verbal dispute and the girlfriend was injured in the process.
Johnson, a mother of three, was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where she later succumbed to her injuries. Days later, her lover was charged with the offence. He is on trial at the Georgetown High Court before Justice Navindra Singh and a mixed twelve-member jury.
Attorney-at-Law, Judith Gildharie-Mursalin is presenting the State’s case while Attorney-at- Law, Dawn Holder-Alert is representing the accused.
Yesterday, two of the couple’s former neighbours gave evidence in court. Wendy Fraser, who claimed that she lived four houses away from the couple, recalled hearing a loud explosion on the night of the incident.
The woman said that she left her residence to investigate the noise and met the victim on the street on the way there. Fraser said that Johnson’s skin had been scorched. The injured woman, she said, held on to her saying, “Delon do this to meh, he burn down my brother house. My brother gon kill me.”
Nikita Hubert, another witness, recalled that the couple had lived in a house located aback of hers. She said that she had shared a friendship with the victim, who hails from Plaisance, ECD. Hubert said that on the night of the incident, she heard a loud noise which sounded like an explosion. The noise, she said, sounded as if it was coming from the direction of the couple’s home.
The witness said that she looked out her back door and saw Johnson running towards her house. “She said “Oh my God Nikita we all dead now!” Hubert recalled.
She said that she noticed Johnson’s skin was wet and messy; it looked as if her flesh was peeling off. The couple’s home, the witness said, was on fire. Hubert said that she heard the woman saying “Delon you tell me you love me, why you do this to me?”
Hubert said that the accused was standing nearby with a baby in his arms. The witness said that the accused took the victim by her hand saying “T.C (Johnson) come along let we go.”
She said that the couple and the baby subsequently joined a taxi and headed for the hospital.
Under cross examination by the defence, Hubert recalled that she had not seen any injuries on the accused. She said too, that the accused did not want to accompany his injured girlfriend to the hospital.
“He did not want to go into the taxi …but people who were standing around them forced him to go in the taxi with her.”
Holder-Alert then pointed out to the witness that she had mentioned seeing two children, while giving evidence at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. However, the woman denied this. She said that she only remembers seeing a baby.
On Thursday, the victim’s nine year-old son told the court that he saw the accused set his mother on fire.
The child was allowed to testify after a voir dire was conducted to determine the admissibility of his evidence.
The boy recalled that his mother and stepfather had been arguing that night. He said that his stepfather had left the house to purchase bread but when he returned his mother had locked the doors. The lad said that his stepfather gained entry into the house through a window.
The child recalled that his stepfather had emptied kerosene from a stove into a container and threw it on his mother before using a yellow lighter to set her on fire. He recalled that the house became engulfed in flames and his mother was screaming. He said that she hurried outside quickly to a drum which contained water, crying and soaking her skin.
The 22-year-old mother of three sustained third degree burns to her entire body. After spending days at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of GPHC, Johnson succumbed to the injuries she received.
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