A man accused of the brutal slaying of two children more than two years ago appeared in court on Monday and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Hubert Johnson initially faced two counts of murder, burglary and assault in his trial, which was set to commence before Justice Ricardo Marques.
The Crown alleged that Johnson, between June 12 and June 13, 2000, by means of unlawful harm caused the deaths of Jasmine Woods, 7, and her brother, Drexel Wilson, 5.
It was further alleged that Johnson, between the same dates, broke and entered the home of LaKisha Woods-Johnson with the intent to commit murder. An additional charge was that the accused assaulted Ms. Woods-Johnson.
As the murder charges were read to the accused, he responded, “Not guilty for murder, but I plead guilty to manslaughter.” He also pleaded guilty to burglary and assault.
After each charge was stated and a plea entered, the prosecutor read the facts of the case to the judge, who will pass sentence on the accused. Because of Mr Johnson’s plea, a jury was not selected to hear the case.
Andrew Bowe represented the accused, while Vernal Collie of the Attorney General’s office assisted by Stephanie Pintard, prosecuted.
Mr. Collie explained briefly after court, that the Crown accepted the manslaughter plea because murder is a crime of specific intent. If the crime does not present or show a specific intention to kill, then it is not murder, he said.
Johnson said he was under the influence of alcohol, became angered and was possessed by a spell, he said.
The prosecutor stated that the two children resided at a pink and green, triplex apartment at Shrimp Road, off Carmichael Road with their mother, LaKisha Woods-Johnson. The apartment in which they resided was at the centre of the complex.
Sometime after 11 p.m. on the date in question, Ms. Woods-Johnson put her children to bed, secured her apartment and left her home. Before she left the premises she asked “Peeta”, her next-door neighbour to listen for her children.
Upon her return home, Ms. Woods-Johnson observed some movement in her apartment as she walked toward the front door. She determined that it was not any of her children and called out, “Who is in there?”
Initially no one answered and she repeated the question before she heard a reply, “This me Huey.”
At that point, she rushed to the front door of her apartment, opened it and stood face to face with Huey, who was the cousin of the landlady, a neighbourhood resident and on a few occasions cleaned her car.
Ms. Woods-Johnson said she saw “Huey” adjusting his pants and she demanded to know what he was doing in her apartment. He did not respond and she noticed that the back door which she had previously secured, was open.
She next questioned him as to the whereabouts of her children. The prosecutor stated that Huey kissed his teeth, pointed to the bedroom and said, “Right over there.”
The mother found her daughter kneeling on the floor, with her chest area resting on the bed and with what appeared to be blood around her. The little boy was in his bed and there seemed to be blood all over him.
Ms. Woods-Johnson said that she turned around and started to scream, before she was grabbed around the neck and choked by Johnson who said, “Shut up, what the hell you crying for.”
The prosecutor told the court that the mother struggled with Johnson in the children’s room until she entered the bathroom, while Huey continued to grasp her throat.
He continued to yell at Ms. Woods-Johnson to shut up, until she finally agreed to be quiet. In order to escape, she pointed to her throat with one hand and told him that she was asthmatic and needed her medication.
After she told him where to find it, and he left, she ran out of her apartment screaming, alerting neighbours.
Huey began to follow her, but he discontinued and ran to the back area of the apartment.
The police were called to the scene, where they discovered that the two children sustained severe injuries and that they appeared to be dead. They were both taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital where they were pronounced dead by the doctor.
It was indicated that Jasmine received multiple stab wounds to the chest and a laceration to the throat. The cause of death was listed as stab wounds to the neck vessels. He brother was said to have suffered a stab wound to the heart and a severe wound to the throat. The cause of death was listed as transection of the neck structure and a stab wound to the heart.
The mother of the children was also taken to the hospital where she was treated for injuries to the neck.
Items which the police collected, included two knives, one containing suspected bloodstains, and a pair of panties, which belonged to Jasmine that contained suspected seminal fluid.
Specimens were also taken from Johnson and tested by the Broward County Sheriff Forensic Lab and revealed that that the suspected blood stains on the knife contained a mixture of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from Jasmine and Johnson. The seminal fluid detected was also found to be from Johnson.
At about 5 a.m. on June 13, 2000, police discovered Johnson in the bushes with injuries to his wrists. His exact location was about 100 yards from the apartment where the children had been killed.
Johnson was taken to PMH for treatment and upon his release police interviewed him as to his involvement in the death of the two children. He admitted to police that he murdered the children and that he had drank some Bacardi rum before he went to sleep. He said that he woke up in anger, was possessed with a spell and he just “flipped.”
When questioned about his self-inflicted wounds to his wrist, he told police that he wanted to kill himself because he was sorry for what he did to the two children.
He was later charged with the mentioned offences, the prosecutor said. The judge questioned the prosecutor as to whether there was any evidence of molestation. He said “no”.
Johnson said that he accepted the facts of the case as they were read to the court.
His lawyer requested that a probation report be conducted in order for more information to be revealed about the accused before a final determination is made.
The date of March 14 was set for the accused to return to court for sentencing in the matter.
By Jimenita Swain, The Nassau Guardian
