Nearly six hours of deliberations ended with a Supreme Court jury voting unanimously to find 22-year-old Kiari Tucker guilty of the fatal shooting of Mortan Steede and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence yesterday.
Sentencing was set down for July 16 by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves, who remanded Tucker in custody.
The victim who was 30-years-old, was chased through the Deepdale area of Pembroke on the night of November 3 in 2017 at about 9.40pm.
He was shot at least three times and rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Mr Steede, who was born in Jamaica, was a married father of one.
His death marked the 35th gun murder committed in Bermuda since 2009.
The court heard that Tucker was arrested the day after the murder after he was found hidden under some clothing in a closet at his godmother’s apartment.
Forensic tests showed particles consistent with gunshot residue on his hands and items of clothing found at his home.
The Crown submitted that Tucker was the man seen on CCTV chasing Mr Steede and argued that cell phone records placed his in the area at the time of the murder.
Tucker denied the charges and took the witness stand in his own defence and told the jury that he spent most of the night in question selling crack on Court Street, and that he went to the Deepdale area that night to buy weed.
But he admitted that he hid from police, saying he did it out of fear of going back to prison – not because he shot the murder victim.
He told the court that he had no idea how gunshot residue got on his clothing.
Ultimately, the jury was not convinced. Now he’s facing life in prison on July 16.
