THE trial of Gregory Roberts, the man accused of the 2017 murder of 15-year-old Green Pond High School student Shineka Gray, got underway in the St James Circuit Court on Thursday.

The case was presided over by High Court Justice Bertram Morrison.

The prosecution has 18 witnesses scheduled to testify, and the only witnesses who testified on Thursday were the father and aunt of the deceased.

Roberts, who has been in custody for the past six years, is represented by attorneys-at-law Chumu Paris and Leroy Equiano. He was remanded in custody and will remain behind bars until November 27 when the trial will continue.

Gray’s body was discovered in bushes in Irwin, St James, on February 1, 2017 with multiple stab wounds. Roberts and another defendant, Mario Morrison, were subsequently arrested and charged with the schoolgirl’s murder.

Morrison entered a guilty plea in September 2022 and was sentenced to life imprisonment a month later.

Gray, who was a grade 10 student, 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.

Meanwhile, the contents of the post-mortem report have been agreed upon so the doctor will not be called to testify.