SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — A psychiatric evaluation has determined that an 18-year-old accused of stabbing his father to death last July in Bullet Tree Lane, Petersfield, Westmoreland, is fit to stand trial.

The disclosure was made during his appearance in the Westmoreland Home Circuit Court on Monday morning. The teen, Garnett Foster Jr, who appeared in court without a lawyer, requested legal aid. Attorney-at-law Dionne Meyler Barrett then stood to indicate that she will be representing him, at his family’s request.

Justice Courtney Daye later remanded the teenager in custody until July 20 to facilitate discussions with his attorney.

According to the constabulary’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), on July 23, 2021 Garnett Foster, an accountant and pastor from Bullet Tree in Westmoreland, was stabbed to death at his house. The CCU report said that an argument developed between Foster and his son about 5:45 am. A knife was brought into play and used to inflict wounds to Foster’s upper body. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The boy was 17 years old at the time of the incident. He will be 19 later this month.

On Monday, Meyler Barrett told the Jamaica Observer that she will examine all facets of the case and then determine what is best for her client.

“The family wants him to enter a plea of guilt, but to what? Bearing in mind that the father, who was stabbed, has taken the secret to the grave with him,” she said outside the courthouse.

“The father, when asked who stabbed you — ’cause he was alive for some time after — he said, ‘I don’t know.’ He told his brother that he didn’t know. So that means, on some level, he didn’t want his son… to deal with any consequences for what his son has done to him,” Meyler Barrett said.

She is also considering the impact on the grieving widow who must now worry about the fate of her son.

“So when I bear everything in mind, I will work out the best deal for him so that he returns to his family a reformed, rehabilitated young man,” she said.