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ON MONDAY, the pathologist who did the autopsy on the body of six-year-old Sean Luke, days after his body was found in a cane field near his Orange Valley home, is expected to give evidence at the trial of the two men charged with the boy’s murder.
On Friday, the defence completed its interrogation of the State’s last civilian witnesses in the case. As a result, the temporary gag on reporting the two witnesses’ evidence was lifted.
Last Wednesday, Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds imposed a temporary gag restricting reporting of any part of the evidence of Avinash Baboolal and Arvis Pradeep – two of the State’s main witnesses against Akeel Mitchell and Richard Chatoo.
Baboolal and Pradeep were also teenagers in the village where Luke lived and were among a group of boys who last saw the six-year-old alive, according to their evidence.
The judge later amended the restriction to extend only until both men completed their testimony. On Friday, she lifted the restriction when Pradeep’s testimony ended.
Both men spent five days giving evidence under intense questioning from Mitchell and Chatoo’s attorneys.
Baboolal was 17 at the time of Luke’s murder. Pradeep was 13.
Luke’s body was found on March 28, in a bushy area in the cane field close to his home at Henry Street Extension, Orange Valley, Couva, two days after he went missing. An autopsy showed he died from internal injuries arising from being sodomised with a cane stalk.
Both Baboolal and Pradeep said they both saw Luke on the evening of March 26, when a group, which included Mitchell and Chatoo, went fishing at a nearby river.
Both said Mitchell and Chatoo took Luke into the cane field, close to his home. Baboolal said it was before the fishing excursion, while Pradeep said it was after.
They were grilled on why neither of them told either the police or Luke’s mother and relatives about the last time they saw the boy, and claimed they were afraid of the police and getting into trouble.
They were also asked if they had a proclivity for young boys, but denied it.
On the first day of his testimony, Baboolal said he heard a “skreel,” while Pradeep said he heard “bawling and screaming.”
In his evidence, Baboolal said Chatoo, Mitchell and their cousin went into the cane and he heard a loud “skreel,” sounding like a speaker box and not human, and five to six minutes later, the three other boys came out.
He said he asked Chatoo for Luke and was told the boy was “doing a poo and he will go home when he finish.” Baboolal said they went fishing and when they had almost got to the river, Mitchell said he was going back home and left.
He said when he looked back, he saw Mitchell going back into the cane.
After the fishing expedition, in front of Luke’s home, Baboolal said Richard and his brothers went home, while Mitchell went back into the direction of the river, and up to that time, he did not see Luke.
He said he was not worried, since Chatoo said when the boy was done, he was going home.
“I thought he was home.”
The next day, he was told Luke was missing and joined the search party, but said he did not know where the boy’s body was found, or his clothing.
Baboolal no longer lives in Orange Valley. He said after the police released him, he returned to find his home burnt down.
Pradeep also said he no longer lived there. He insisted he did nothing illegal or shameful with Luke.
“I did nothing.”
He said it was only at the police station that he found out Luke was dead and he became “real frightened.” He also said some of the inconsistencies in what he told the police in several statements were because Luke was dead, and he was afraid of Mitchell.
“At the time I was afraid of him because I heard he was from Laventille.”
He said he did not see or touch Luke’s underpants, and no DNA samples were taken from him at the time, but he would be willing to give his DNA now.
DNA samples were taken from Luke, Mitchell and Chatoo and the prosecution is hoping to admit the results, which were recently obtained, at the trial.
Pradeep, in his evidence, said Mitchell and Chatoo had called out to Luke, asking him to go by the river.
He said while walking back, they were walking along the cane field road in a group when Mitchell said “Stop.”
He said Mitchell and Chatoo took Luke into the cane field, pushing him on the back. He said he heard “bawling and screaming” and about half an hour later, the two other boys came out, but “Sean did not come back.”
He said he went to the bay, and Mitchell, Chatoo and Baboolal met him there, but he did not ask about Luke.
“Richard was grumpy. Akeel just stand up normal.”
Unlike Baboolal, he could not identify either Mitchell or Chatoo at the trial. Pradeep said it was the first time he had gone to the river with the group of boys.
He said he told no one about the last time he saw Luke because, “I was afraid of getting into trouble.
“When they (the police) came, they ask if I know anything about Sean Luke. I said, ‘No,’” he testified, admitting he lied, because he did not trust them.
Pradeep said at the bay, he was asked to go back into the cane field but: “I say, ‘No, I not going back into the cane field.' It was already dark.”
He asked the security guard at the bay for a lift and went home.
Pradeep said Mitchell was a stranger to him, and also said he did not like little boys. He said he was closer to Baboolal than Chatoo, who lived two houses away from Luke, and he did not know Mitchell, Chatoo’s cousin, who only came to the area shortly before the incident occurred.
Also testifying on Friday was Cpl Brendon Fraser, who sat in on an interview with one of the accused men, as well as canvassing the Orange Valley area on the day Luke’s body was found, in hopes of questioning people about the child’s murder.
His testimony from the two men’s voir dire, in which they challenged the prosecution’s evidence, was incorporated into the main trial, so he did not have to be questioned extensively by the defence.
Another officer who was also expected to testify on Friday could not, as he was refused entry to the Judiciary’s virtual access customer centre because of covid19 guidelines.
Mitchell and Chatoo opted for a judge-only trial.
They are represented by attorneys Mario Merritt, Evans Welch, Kirby Joseph, Randall Raphael, Kelston Pope and Gabriel Hernandez.
Prosecuting are state attorneys Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, Anju Bhola and Sophia Sandy-Smith
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