Prosecution seeks death penalty in Barbara Gayle’s murder case
/ Our Today
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Durrant Pate/Contributor
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) is seeking the death penalty for 24-Travis Ellis, who is facing trial for the murder of veteran journalist Barbara Gayle at her home in Caymanas Estate, St Catherine last month.
This was confirmed by government senator and King’s Counsel Tom Tavares-Finson, one of the accused attorneys, when Ellis made his first court appearance last Friday (January 10). Ellis was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to his next appearance at the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston on May 26.
He was remanded into custody until then. This request for the imposition of the death penalty on Ellis if convicted and the desire for psychiatric evaluation is the latest development in this watched murder case with the prosecution earlier this week tendering a voluntary bill of indictment for the case to go straight to trial at the Circuit Court.
Case moving faster
This allowed for the matter to move faster through the court system. As such, Ellis, who was supposed to have been brought to the St Catherine Parish Court in Spanish Town, had his case going straight to trial, bypassing the committal proceedings at the parish court.
He is being tried for the December 17 murder of the 77-year-old retired Jamaica Gleaner journalist. The other attorney in the case is Donahue Martin.
Ellis was charged with murder and robbery with aggravation on December 24 after Gayle’s body was found with multiple stab wounds. A day later, her Mercedes-Benz motor car, which was missing from her home at the time of the murder, was found in the vicinity of Dyke Road in Gregory Park, Portmore.
Ellis, who hails from ‘Gulf’ in Gregory Park, St Catherine was arrested hours later in the nearby Grange Lane community, where he was found hiding. The murder of Gayle, a beloved and widely respected court reporter, shocked the nation.
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