ST JAMES, Jamaica — Gregory Roberts, the man convicted of the murder of 15-year-old schoolgirl Shineka Gray in 2017, is to know his fate in a week when the presiding judge is expected to hand down his judgement.

Following a two-day hearing in the St James Circuit Court on Friday afternoon, High Court Justice Bertram Morrison asked the court reporters to allow him to have a printed record of the hearing next Monday, if possible. This will allow the judge time to consider all arguments presented by the defence lawyer Chumu Paris and the prosecutor from the Director Public Publications office, Andrea Martin-Swaby.

Justice Morrison will then hand down his judgement on April 12 to Roberts.

Shineka, who was a grade 10 student at the time of her death in 2017, was found dead three days after she had been reported missing. She was last seen alive in Montego Bay while on her way home from the funeral of a schoolmate.

Roberts and his co-accused, Mario Morrison, were later taken into custody in connection with the killing.

READ: Two charged with murder of 15-y-o Shineka Gray

Morrison pleaded guilty in September 2022 after entering a plea deal with the State and was sentenced to life in prison a month later.

–          Anthony Lewis