FACED with the prospect of being sent to prison, Omar Stewart, who was found guilty of murder in the Home Circuit Court, broke down and wept uncontrollably from the dock Wednesday, while ranting that his co-accused and long-time friend Andre Ennis, was the actual murderer.

The hissyfit tirade came shortly after the 12 jurors – who took just 28 minutes to find both men guilty – and Justice Carol Beswick had left the courtroom.

The 20-plus-year-old Stewart, otherwise called ‘China Man’ of a Spanish Town, St Catherine address, started to weep, which drew the attention of the court. He then started to mouth off while pointing at Ennis saying that Ennis alone should have been convicted.

Both men were convicted for the July 27, 2005 murder of their one-time friend, Andre Baker, along Westmore Drive in Spanish Town.

Lisa Palmer, Acting Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, and Acting Crown Counsel Pearnel Charles Jr, led evidence during the one-week trial, that at about 6:00 pm on the day in question, Baker was in the company of a group of persons walking along Westmore Drive, when both men approached the group. After a brief conversation, Stewart pulled a gun and shot Baker in the back of the head while Ennis chased after the eyewitness who escaped.

Baker’s body was later found on a premises along Westmore Drive.

Stewart, a father of six, was arrested later that night. Gunpowder residue was found on his hands. Ennis, a labourer, was arrested two days later. Both men said in unsworn statements from the dock, that they were not at the scene of the shooting.

Social enquiry reports and antecedents on the men were requested for sentencing on June 15.