标签： Bahamas

After six years of lingering legal uncertainty hanging over their lives, two Bahamian men walked free from the Supreme Court in Grand Bahama on Wednesday, after an eight-member jury delivered not guilty verdicts on charges of a high-profile 2020 double murder. Trevor Reckley Jr. and 23-year-old Shamaz Brown, who was just 15 when he was first charged, were cleared of murdering Kim Smith and Denny Rolle – two men gunned down in a broad-daylight public shooting on Freeport’s Limewood Lane on May 11, 2020. The jury returned its 6-2 not guilty decision after closed-door deliberations, concluding a weeks-long trial that exposed serious allegations of coercive police misconduct during the investigation.

Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General had argued that Reckley acted as the getaway driver, providing a firearm and driving Brown and a third accused suspect, Dillon Williams, to the attack site in a dark Honda Accord just after 3 p.m. According to the Crown’s narrative, Denny Rolle was standing on the street near a parked blue Ford Focus when gunfire erupted from the sedan. Rolle was struck multiple times and succumbed to his wounds later in hospital, while Kim Smith, who was inside the vehicle at the time, died at the scene of the attack.

The prosecution’s case relied heavily on two key pieces of testimony: a claimed confession from Brown, and witness testimony from Williams, who told investigators he saw Brown open fire on the two victims. But both defendants forcefully denied any involvement in the killings from the beginning of the trial, and Brown made explosive allegations of abuse by police while in custody. He told the court that after he was taken into custody as a minor, officers at the Criminal Detective Unit repeatedly slapped him, punched him in the abdomen, and placed a plastic bag over his head to coerce him into confessing to a crime he said he had no part in. Reckley similarly rejected all prosecution claims, denying he drove the co-accused to the scene, provided a weapon, or encouraged the attack.
Following the delivery of the verdict, Justice Andrew Forbes formally discharged both men, thanked the jury for their service, and confirmed the pair were free to leave custody. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, both men described the acquittal as a massive weight lifted after half a decade of disruption to their lives.

Brown, who just turned 23, noted the case had hung over him from the middle of his teenage years, blocking him from building a stable adult life. “I feel amazing just to know I get off something that I had nothing to do with,” he told reporters. “I just thank God. He brought me from far, He stayed with me from the start. This is a new beginning for me.” Brown acknowledged he has a separate, unrelated legal matter pending, but emphasized it was nothing compared to the gravity of the double murder charges he just cleared. He also repeated his allegations of police coercion after the verdict, saying “That’s a normal thing they do – they beat you when they can’t get you to confess. They will try to beat it out of you, to make you lie on yourself.”

Reckley echoed that sense of relief, while also outlining the personal and professional damage the six-year case caused. “I feel I would have gone further if I didn’t have this obstacle in my way,” he said. “I lost my job and everything, and now I could finally go back to my life and tell people what happened. This is one of the sweetest things you could ever experience.” Reckley also extended sympathy to the families of the two victims, while reaffirming his innocence: “I really feel sorry for the victims’ family, but I am an honest man. I didn’t know nothing of the crimes.” He thanked his family for standing by him throughout the long legal process.

Defense attorneys celebrated the verdict, while also calling for systemic changes to Bahamian policing practices to root out coercive interrogation tactics. Ryszard Humes, Reckley’s lawyer, said the defense team had identified critical gaps and weaknesses in the prosecution’s evidence from the start. “We’re happy with the verdict today,” Humes said. “We had significant concerns about gaps in the evidence led by the prosecution, and my client consistently denied any involvement. We believe the jury reached the correct decision.”

Krystal Newman, Brown’s defense counsel, raised broader concerns about repeated allegations of improper police conduct in criminal investigations across the country. She noted that defense attorneys regularly encounter clients who claim they were pressured into making false confessions or statements, and argued that this coercive practice should not be accepted as standard procedure. “Such conduct should not be accepted as routine policing, and we need further training to ensure all officers follow proper investigative procedures,” Newman said. “You cannot build a case on things that are not true, and you cannot gather a confession through those sorts of violent means.”

The case marks the end of a six-year legal saga that began when Reckley and the then-minor Brown were charged within days of the 2020 shooting. Sean Smith represented the Attorney General’s Office throughout the trial proceedings.

A fatal traffic collision on a major Nassau thoroughfare has claimed the life of a 37-year-old local man, leaving family and community members mourning following the early morning crash Thursday.

Tyrone Paul, a Grand Bahama native who had moved to New Providence two years prior, died at the scene after his red-and-white Honda 650 motorcycle collided head-on with a black Subaru sedan just south of the John F Kennedy Drive intersection on Gladstone Road, according to local law enforcement officials.

Authorities confirmed that emergency responders were first notified of the incident just after 8 a.m., and uniformed officers were immediately dispatched to conduct an initial assessment and secure the crash site. When officers arrived, they found the Subaru — driven by an unidentified male motorist — positioned on the eastern shoulder of the road facing south, with severe damage concentrated on the vehicle’s front end. Paul’s motorcycle was also found on the eastern side of the roadway, with the 37-year-old rider lying unresponsive nearby.

Emergency Medical Services technicians arrived shortly after to provide urgent care, but they quickly confirmed Paul had already passed away and showed no vital signs. Preliminary law enforcement investigations into the crash indicate Paul was traveling north along Gladstone Road when he veered into the southbound travel lane, directly into the path of the oncoming Subaru. The high-impact collision threw Paul from his motorcycle onto the pavement, where he died from his traumatic injuries almost immediately.

Family members have since identified the victim as Paul, who went by the affectionate nickname “T”. As the only child of his mother and a father of two young children, Paul was described by relatives as a quiet, well-mannered young man who had recently built a new life on New Providence after relocating from his home island of Grand Bahama.

In the days following the crash, graphic images purporting to show Paul lying on the roadway immediately after the collision have spread widely across social media platforms, prompting concerns among family members about the spread of insensitive content online.

A devastating tragedy has shaken the community of Nassau, Bahamas, after a 16-year-old high school senior lost his life in a drowning accident at a local canal over the weekend, cutting short a life full of promise just days before his birthday and months before his graduation.

Davontae Fleurimar, a 12th-grade student at Royal Preparatory Academy, was swimming with three friends at the waterway behind the gated South Sea Estates community off Bacardi Road when the incident unfolded on Sunday afternoon. According to local law enforcement, authorities received the first report of a missing swimmer at approximately 4 p.m. Witness accounts told officers that the group of four young men, ranging in age from 16 to 19, had been swimming just south of the development when a strong current pulled Fleurimar into distress. One member of the group attempted a risky rescue, but was unable to reach him safely before the teenager disappeared under the water.

Emergency responders immediately launched a large-scale search operation: local police coordinated with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, which dispatched a patrol vessel, aerial drone support, and a team of specialized divers to comb the stretch of canal. After nearly three hours of relentless searching, Fleurimar’s unresponsive body was recovered at around 7:30 p.m. roughly 40 yards from the South Sea Estates southwestern shore.

The tragedy comes just five days before what would have been Fleurimar’s 17th birthday, and just a few months before he was set to cross the graduation stage in June. For his family, the sudden loss has left an unfillable void that they are still struggling to comprehend.

Ygonnia Blanc, Fleurimar’s aunt who acted as a second mother to him and even gave him his name, spoke publicly about the teenager’s bright character. She described Davontae as a polite, kind-hearted, and driven young man who started working after-school jobs at a local grocery store and construction sites from an early age to earn his own income. “Even at his young age he was done figuring his life out,” Blanc said, “and that’s what make me even love him more.”

Blanc also shared that Fleurimar’s mother had worked tirelessly through hardship to give her son every opportunity for a better life, and that the entire family remains in shock. When Fleurimar’s mother identified her son’s body at the local morgue the day after the accident, she could only scream through her grief: “We were so close Vontae.” When asked how the family was holding up in the days after the tragedy, Blanc choked up through tears, saying, “He only 16. He ain’t live half his life yet.” Fleurimar was an avid swimmer who often visited the canal, a detail that makes his accidental death even more devastating for his loved ones.

Royal Preparatory Academy, Fleurimar’s school, released an official statement mourning his passing and honoring his memory. The institution shared an image of his basketball jersey to acknowledge his love for the sport, and remembered the joy he brought to campus. “As we grieve this heartbreaking loss, we remember the laughter, the jokes, and all the special moments we shared. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered,” the statement read. The school closed its remarks by asking for prayers of strength and comfort for Fleurimar’s family, friends, classmates, and all those impacted by his death.

Across more than 40 years of trailblazing work spanning every corner of the Bahamian media landscape, Steve McKinney established himself as one of the most recognizable and unapologetic voices in the nation’s public discourse. The veteran journalist and broadcaster passed away at the age of 64, leaving behind a career that shaped local journalism and sparked tributes from across the country’s political and media spheres.

McKinney’s connection to Bahamian media began extraordinarily early: at just 17 years old, he got his start as a junior cub reporter at *The Tribune*, the newspaper that first launched his journalism journey. Born in April 1962 to Louise Sands and William McKinney, he grew up in the Chippingham community, a neighborhood he remained deeply tied to throughout his entire life and career. After completing secondary education at Aquinas College, he went on to pursue specialized professional journalism training across Jamaica, Canada, and the United States, building the foundational skills that would define his decades-long career.

From his early print days at *The Tribune*, McKinney moved into public broadcasting, climbing the leadership ranks at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. There, he held roles ranging from general reporter and sports editor to deputy director, before ultimately stepping into the top position of news director. Later in his career, he transitioned to government communications, joining Bahamas Information Services (BIS) as a senior information officer. He played a key role in launching BIS Broadcasting, and also served as a press attaché for the Office of the Prime Minister. Beyond his core professional roles, McKinney was a foundational builder of Bahamian media institutions: he helped establish both the Sports Journalists’ Association and the Bahamas Press Club, and later founded his own independent media outlet, the McKinney Media Group, which encompassed Five Star Films and Documentaries and Peace 107.5 FM.

For decades, McKinney was best known to the Bahamian public as the host of the popular talk show *Hard Copy*, a program that became a central forum for national debate. On the show, he opened the airwaves to callers from across the country to discuss pressing political, social, and national issues, and gained a reputation for his direct, unflinching questioning of sitting politicians and public figures. It was this outspoken approach that cemented his status as a household name, but also drew controversy multiple times throughout his career.

In 2007, following that year’s general election, McKinney was removed from his talk show *Immediate Response* at state-owned ZNS, an incident that sparked broader public debate about political interference and editorial independence at the national public broadcaster. Four years later, in 2011, he was dismissed from his role as broadcasting director at BIS after joining a public demonstration opposing the proposed sale of a 51 percent controlling stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable & Wireless Communications. That same year, his program *Hard Copy* faced regulatory scrutiny from the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority, which requested a copy of an episode as part of an investigation into alleged broadcasting rule breaches. McKinney pushed back against claims the show had been pulled from the air, clarifying the dispute centered on copyright ownership, as he held full intellectual property rights to the program.

News of McKinney’s passing prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the Bahamian political spectrum, with leaders from all parties praising his contribution to national public life. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, leader of the governing Progressive Liberal Party, called McKinney one of the finest journalists The Bahamas has ever produced, noting he dedicated most of his life to public service. “The Bahamas has lost one of its finest journalists and a son who devoted much of his life to serving the public,” Davis said in a formal statement. “From that early start in the *Tribune* newsroom, he built a career that took him into national broadcasting and, later, talk radio. Across those different roles, his work kept him in constant conversation with the Bahamian people. Many knew him through his voice. They listened as he discussed the news, questioned public figures and made space for the issues they wanted addressed. He believed in free expression and the public’s right to information, and helped grow and strengthen the entire media profession in our country.”

Opposition Free National Movement (FNM) leader Michael Pintard echoed those sentiments, noting that for years, Bahamians from all ideological backgrounds tuned into McKinney’s program to work through daily news events and hold powerful leaders accountable. “Whether you agreed with him or not, he added to the national conversation with fearless conviction and boundless love for our Bahamas,” Pintard said. “Our democracy is healthier because of his unforgettable voice.”

Coalition of Independents leader Lincoln Bain remembered McKinney as not just a public figure, but a personal mentor, confidant, and role model. Bain recalled that McKinney called him nearly every day to offer encouragement, and broke with common media convention by publicly supporting him as a young opposition leader, a vote of confidence that continues to ground him today. “He took the step that is almost never done in media, to support me publicly as a leader. Nothing ever happens, and I thank him for that confidence in me, that type of confidence in what keeps me grounded and keeps me passionate to keep going because there are people who believe in me,” Bain said.

McKinney is survived by his wife Treva, daughter Stefka Woos, and son Stephen McKinney. He was predeceased by two daughters, Trevone and Odia.