Rohan Williams found guilty of rape and murder of Lenia Lettsome-Green in 2019

On a rainy night on May 26, 2019, Jamila Stevens was driving home from the Leverick Bay Poker Run when she saw a woman lying on the road in the Georges Northside area.

“I approached her and she said she had been raped and shot,” Ms Stevens recently testified in the Supreme Court. “When I asked her what had happened, she gave the name of the person who had shot her. She called the person at the time Rohan Williams.”

The woman was 46-year-old Lenia Lettsome-Green from the Virgin Islands, who died shortly afterwards from numerous gunshot wounds.

And Mr. Williams – a Vincentian who was 37 at the time – was arrested the next day and charged with her murder.

More than five years later, Mr Williams’ case ended in the Supreme Court on July 12, when he was found guilty of rape and murder after a lengthy trial in which more than 20 witnesses gave evidence over a period of almost two months.

Prosecutors based their case on witness testimony, two bullet casings and DNA analysis, and supported it on Mr Williams’s testimony that he raped and killed the married mother of three after she ended her affair with him and converted to Christianity.

Defense attorney Michael Maduro rejected that account, describing the evidence as “all circumstantial” and stressing Mr Williams’ claim that he had nothing to do with the crime.

On the afternoon of July 12, a jury of eight women and one man unanimously sided with the prosecution after less than three hours of deliberation.

Mr Williams, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, is due to be sentenced on November 14 by Judge Angelica Teelucksingh, who presided over his trial.

“Hell hath no fury”

The trial began on May 21, when lead Crown attorney Kellee-Gai Smith faced the jury and made her opening statement.

“Hell hath no fury like that of a man scorned,” the prosecutor said. “We often hear of the vengeful, spurned and rejected woman. But we rarely hear of the rejected and vengeful man who kills his former lover who has abandoned him.”

During the trial that followed, Ms Smith sought to paint a picture of Mr Williams as a jilted lover who was angry when Ms Lettsome-Green ended the relationship.

In the months before the murder, Mr Williams – a neighbour of Ms Lettsome-Green who was well known to her family – tried to blackmail her by sending explicit photographs to her sons and threatening to send them to her husband and post them on social media, prosecutors said.

After Mr Williams went to her workplace at Trident Trust in October 2018 and demanded to speak to her, Ms Lettsome-Green obtained an injunction in January 2019, according to prosecution evidence presented at trial.

But prosecutors claimed the order was not enough to protect Ms Lettsome-Green from Mr Williams, who allegedly raped and shot her before abandoning her at Georges Northside Hospital.

In support of their case, the prosecution presented DNA samples taken from the crime scene and from Ms Lettsome-Green’s body. The samples, prosecutors said, supported their claim that Mr Williams raped her.

They also cited forensic analysis suggesting that a spent nine-millimeter cartridge found at the crime scene was fired from the same weapon as a spent cartridge discovered in the pocket of a pair of shorts seized during a search of Mr. Williams’ home the night of the murder.

During the trial, prosecutors called witnesses including Ms Stevens, Ms Lettsome-Green’s friends and family, several police officers, a DNA analyst and the pathologist who performed an autopsy and determined the cause of death.

defense

Mr. Williams did not testify during the trial, but his lawyer tried to prove his innocence.

On the night of the murder, Maduro said, Williams dropped his girlfriend off at a laundromat and then went home to work on his car and wash his hair so his girlfriend could braid it when she returned.

Throughout the trial, the defense attorney also attempted to refute the prosecution’s narrative.

For example, during cross-examination of Ms Stevens, Mr Maduro suggested that the heavy rain at the time may have affected Ms Stevens’ ability to hear Ms Lettsome-Green’s words.

“I say you were wrong about what you heard Ms. Green say,” Mr. Maduro said.

Ms Stevens, who appeared in court via Zoom, disagreed.

“I also claim that Ms. Green never mentioned Rohan Williams’ name,” Mr. Maduro said.

Mrs. Stevens shot back.

“Were you there?” she asked, making the jury giggle. “I’m sorry, but I disagree.”

After calm had returned to the court, Maduro pressed on.

“Please answer yes or no,” he said.

“No,” replied Mrs. Stevens.

Mr Maduro then said that Ms Lettsome-Green never suggested to Ms Stevens that Mr Williams was the one who shot her.

Ms Stevens replied: “That is exactly what she implied. I disagree.”

Procedures

Mr Maduro also asked questions about various procedures used in the police investigation.

For example, he noted that the empty police cartridge allegedly found in Mr. Williams’ trouser pocket was not discovered until ten days after the murder.

He also pointed out that the forensic analysis suggesting that the two grenades were fired from the same weapon could have been corrupted by human error.

He also asked similar questions about the DNA analysis presented by the public prosecutor.

Ultimately, however, he failed to convince the jury.

At the end of the trial, Mr Williams was led out of the Sakal building into a waiting prison van.

Allison Vaughn contributed reporting.