Sophia Lugg on Thursday admitted that she had a conversation about who could have killed her daughter with the father of police constable Noel Maitland, the man accused of murder.

Lugg made the admission under cross-examination by Christopher Townsend, one of Maitland’s attorneys, as the trial continued in the Home Circuit Court, downtown Kingston.

Townsend asked Lugg whether Noel Maitland Sr had picked her up in his taxi and, while transporting her home, had a conversation about her daughter’s death.

The attorney accused her of lying to the court when she said she did not tell the father that she knew the constable didn’t kill her daughter because he didn’t have the guts to do it.

Lugg denied saying that and sought to give her explanation of what she remembered about the conversation in the taxi.

“He said, ‘I know and you know who killed your daughter. I know and you know it’s not my son who killed your daughter and if we talk, all of us are dead’. That’s what Mr Maitland said,” Lugg told the court, prompting Townsend to further insist that she was not telling the truth.

Maitland is accused of killing and unlawfully burying his girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson. She was 24 years old at the time .

Donaldson, who was known as a social media influencer, went missing on July 12, 2022 and was later presumed dead based on a host of circumstantial evidence.

She was last seen alive at the Chelsea Manor Apartment complex in St Andrew where Maitland lived.

On Thursday, after seeking to discredit Lugg’s testimony, Townsend quizzed her about her knowledge of Kathy-Ann Smith, who is said to share a child with the accused man. Townsend asked Lugg whether she had told investigators that her daughter and Smith had a physical altercation.

Lugg admitted that she did in fact put that in a statement.

“You also told the police that Kathy-Ann had indicated that she was going to kill herself and kill Noel. Did you tell the police that in your statement?’ Townsend probed. “You also told the police that they had to take away her gun and they suspended her.”

Lugg answered the question by telling the attorney that Smith told her some of the things but didn’t recall the mention of her wanting to kill Noel Maitland.

However, after her 2022 statement was given to her to peruse, she accepted that she in fact told investigators that Smith threatened to kill Maitland and commit suicide and that her firearm was confiscated.

“That’s what she told me,” Lugg said.

Townsend also probed whether Donaldson was an entrepreneur who delivered and sold lingerie-type clothing and modelled them on Instagram in the form of photographs.

Lugg responded saying, “And videos too, Sir.”

Townsend then asked if Lugg was aware that her daughter would be skimpily clad in these photos and videos, in an effort to promote her business on Instagram.

Lugg told the attorney that that was true.

He further asked her if Donaldson had complained that she was being stalked by people looking at her page and making sexual comments that made her uncomfortable.

The mother said ‘no’, indicating that Donaldson had made no such complaints.

Lugg admitted that Donaldson delivered her products multiple times per week using one specific taxi driver and whenever he was not available, she would use the services of any one of three taxi companies.

Lugg said she did not tell the police about the specific taxi driver her daughter had regularly used.

After Townsend completed his cross-examination, prosecutor Claudette Thompson sought to re-examine the witness in order to clarify responses Lugg gave to certain questions which were unclear.

After Thompson finished re-examining Lugg, she was released, clearing the way for the second witness, Ruth-Ann Robinson — a close friend of Donaldson — to take the stand.

Robinson spoke of interactions she’d had with Maitland before and after Donaldson went missing.

She told the court that the last time she spoke to Donaldson was on July 12, 2022 when they had made arrangements for Robinson to collect some money which would be used to clear up an outstanding bill at a restaurant.

Robinson said she did not end up collecting the money because she didn’t hear from Donaldson again.

She told the court that Donaldson’s brother sent her a message on Instagram which prompted her to reach out to Maitland to ask if he had seen Donaldson and when was the last time. She said he told her that he was sleeping when Donaldson left the apartment to go and collect money that was sent by her father.

Maitland allegedly told her that he did see how she left, or who picked her up. She told him that she would call some other close friends to find out if they heard from her.

When those friends said they had not heard from Donalsdon, Robinson said she called Maitland and told him. According to her, the constable began to cry very loudly.

The trial, which is being heard by a seven-member jury, is being presided over by Justice Leighton Pusey.