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ON MAY 5, two men are expected to be sentenced by a High Court judge after they pleaded guilty to the 2004 murder of a 29-year-old plumber from Mayaro.
Jason “Reddo” LeMaitre and Sheldon “Shakka” Thomas appeared virtually before Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas from the Maximum Security Prison’s court facility for the murder of Anthony “Lick” Lemessy on August 19, 2004, at his Plaisance Road, Mayaro, home.
Lemessy had four gunshot wounds to the back of his head.
Both men entered a plea agreement with the State in December 2021, and the details of the agreement were accepted by the judge after holding discussions with the two.
Having accepted the terms of the agreement, both men were arraigned and allowed to plead guilty to murder on the felony murder construct.
It was the prosecution’s case that on August 19, 2004, at about 3.30 am, Lemessy was at home with his family when the men entered the house and shot him.
Prosecutor Maria Lyons gave an account of the testimony of Lemessy’s grandmother Alma and his uncle Grell, who said he heard two men call out, “Police, police.” When he challenged the men to identify themselves, one of them put a gun to his head and told him, “We come to kill people here tonight.”
He said the men took him to the room Anthony and his common-law wife were in and demanded drugs. One of the men rummaged through the room, taking a cellphone and gold chain, and the other man threatened to “empty” the gun in the girlfriend’s head.
One of the men took Lemessy out of the room after he told them he had $1,500, and his uncle heard gunshots. When he eventually went outside, he saw his nephew lying in a pool of blood.
He identified both Thomas and Le Maitre at an identification parade.
Lyons also gave the accounts of Lemessy’s aunt Beverly who also heard the gunshots, and Natoya Jones, his common-law wife.
Jones recounted the incident and said she did not know the men, who came into the bedroom where she and Anthony were sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but one of them kicked him in the face and then stamped on it.
She said one of the men – the dark-skinned one – searched the room, taking jewellery, money and a cellphone, while the fair-skinned man took Lemessy outside the room, after which she heard five shots.
Jones identified the chain police recovered from Thomas and the two men at an identification parade.
The prosecutor also read from the evidence of one of the police officers who responded to the report of the shooting. PC Knights said when he reached the Mayaro Recreation ground he heard two vehicles starting up and the cars sped past him. One of his colleagues, PC Douglas, also saw the speeding cars. A third officer, PC Rampagas, picked up his colleagues, who were on foot, and chased the cars.
One crashed into an embankment and the driver was pinned behind the steering wheel of the car, bleeding from the mouth. He gave the name "Hayden Goddard of Tunapuna." He was found with a green jersey with bloodstains, and a cell phone.
The other car was picked up at a police checkpoint and the driver gave the police a fake name, Mark Deare of Mt D’Or Road, Champ Fleurs.
Police went to the Lemessy family home, where they found Anthony and five shell casings near his head.
On August 19, 2004, while in Manzanilla, police stopped a car with three occupants. They searched the man in the back seat and found a revolver, ammunition, cash, a cellphone and other items in his pocket.
The man later identified himself as Sheldon Thomas, 19, of L'Anse Mitan, Carenage. He was arrested and later that day in Valencia, Le Maitre was arrested in a maxi taxi.
Le Maitre, however, first gave his name as Marlon Smith of Foster Road, Sangre Grande. When questioned about the murder, he told police, “I don’t have to account to you.”
After the facts of the case were read out, the judge gave dates for filing submissions on sentence and adjourned the matter to May 5.
Thomas is represented by attorneys Kelston Pope and Kimada Ottley, LeMaitre is represented by attorneys Wayne Sturge and Danielle Rampersad.
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