Dixon declines chance to tell his side in murder trial

(CNS): As the crown closed its case against Javon James Dixon (29) for the murder of Jovin Omar Fuentes (32) last summer, the Bodden Town man passed up the chance to tell his side of the story to the jury. Dixon, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm, declined to take the stand in his own defence and support what he had told police in the immediate wake of his arrest.

Dixon has admitted to being at the scene of the shooting in Bodden Town on 1 July 2022, but he has claimed that a man named “Blacks” was the killer.

Fuentes (32), a father of two, was gunned down outside a Bodden Town mini-mart in front of several members of his family, who testified that Dixon was the shooter. Over the last three weeks, the crown has set out its case based on the evidence given by Fuentes’ relatives.

Throughout the case, Amelia Fosuhene, who is leading the defence, challenged the varying accounts given by the eyewitnesses as well as the eleventh-hour efforts by the police to follow up on her client’s claims about the killer and the lost opportunity to support his version of events. But Dixon opted to exercise his right to silence when his chance came to offer evidence.

At the time he was arrested, Dixon told the police that he had picked up a man he knew only as “Blacks” just before the shooting and that Blacks, who he believed worked in construction, was the one who gunned down Fuentes. He then panicked, drove away from the scene and shortly after abandoned the car and Blacks before heading to his girlfriend’s house. He was arrested shortly afterwards at his father’s house.

As the defence did not call any witnesses, the lawyers for the crown and the defence are expected to offer their closing arguments to the jury Friday.