High Court Judge Thomas Astaphan has granted bail of $50,000.00 to Samron Thomas. The State did not file any documents dealing with the bail application.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dyrample told the court that the State had issues with the bail application as the accused was on bail for another murder charge.
Justice Thomas then stated that if he was on a charge of murder when the second murder occurred then his chances of bail would be “slim” However defense counsel Zena Moore Dyer and the DPP did indicate to the court about certain issues in the evidence prompting the court to grant bail.
Thomas from Montin Grand Bay was on remand after he was slapped with a second charge of murder in November 2022.
He is charged along with a 16-year-old of fatally shooting Ronel Desiree, a 25-year-old man from Eggleston at the Dominica China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) on October 31, 2022.
Reports from the police state that on October 30, 2022, at about 7:20 p.m, Desiree was driving his blue and grey Suzuki Vitara along the Eggleston public road near the bus stop, accompanied by his 2-year-old daughter and his brother when he was first shot.
“While driving, two black CRVs registration number unknown, approached his vehicle from behind, passed alongside his vehicle, and one mask individual on one of the CVRs who was armed with a gun, shot at his vehicle several times,” the police told the media.
The assailants on the two black CRVs fled the scene.
The police revealed that Desiree sustained gunshot wounds to both thighs and legs. He was transported via ambulance to the DCFH where he was admitted to the Alford Ward.
The following day—October 31, 2022,—at about 7:30 p.m, while Desiree was still a patient at the hospital, two masked men dressed in dark clothing entered Alford Ward and proceeded to Desiree’s bed and shot him multiple times in his neck, head, and chest.