Murder Trial Begins For Mavado’s Teen Son Dante Brooks
The murder trial for the son of dancehall entertainer Mavado, Dante Brooks and his co-accused Andre Hines, got underway on Monday and is expected to continue for several days.
“All that I will say is that we have clear instructions from him that he is innocent and we are certainly going to be challenging the prosecution’s case as it goes along,” attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie, who is representing Brooks, told the Jamaica Star this week.
Brooks, 18, will be tried as an adult.
He has been in detention since 2018 when he was charged jointly with Hines for the June 5, 2018 murder of Lorenzo Thomas, otherwise called ‘Israel’ or ‘Trulups’, in Cassava Piece, St Andrew.
If convicted, Brooks could be sent to prison for life, however, has vehemently maintained his innocence.
“The prosecution is still presenting its case and the main witnesses are still being cross-examined. I can’t say for sure how long the trial will run but I am expecting it to continue for at least two weeks. There are quite a number of witnesses to be questioned and so it’s still early days yet for a verdict,” Champagnie said.
The defence team for Dante Brooks, the teenage son of dancehall deejay Mavado, has opted to have a trial by a judge alone, as opposed to judge and jury.
The charges laid against Brooks and his co-accused included conspiracy to murder, arson, shooting with intent and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Brooks has been in a juvenile detention facility in Kingston, having had multiple bail applications denied.
Over the weekend, Mavado showed his son some love on Instagram with an old photo of them together overlooking the city. “Love you son,” the deejay wrote with prayer hands emojis.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJrcCG5HcX4/
In another post two days ago, Mavado wrote, “The light will shine the dark will be brighter soon.”
The entertainer also released a new song yesterday, Not Perfect, which touched on his son’s trial as well as his own run-ins with the law.