Almost 9 years after he was arrested and charged with the murder of then 46-year Marilyn McLawrence of Portsmouth on September 30, 2014, Emmanuel “Manny” Azille, today walked out of the court a free man after the Learned Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dyrample filed a notice of “discontinuance in the matter.
Azille then aged 56 of Cottage was on Thursday, October 9, 2014, charged with the murder and has been on remand ever since. He has always denied his involvement and maintained his innocence.
McLawrence, lifeless body was found on a track near her home in Glanvillia, Portsmouth about 7:30 pm with serious wounds to her head.
Speaking with the Press moments after his release, Azille maintained his innocence. “ I know that I did not kill my best friend, so not one day did I feel awful in the prison…is just that I did not like a Sunday, Saturday, or a holiday in the prison,” he said.
“I prayed every day, I never retreated or surrendered, for 3000 days I prayed to the Almighty and I knew he would deliver me.”
His mission now is to continue to pray and is warning about the evil in society. “I love all, I hate crimes and I want to go to the school and talk to the youth and speak about the crimes and remind them that it does not pay,” he stated.
His lawyer Darius Jones said he was confident all along that his client would have been a free man. “They had nothing, it should have been done long ago, when I look at the case before the court, I did not see any evidence that would even convict a fly,” he said.
He lamented the length of time it took to have the matter dealt with calling it “painful.”
Find the attached interview with Azille and his lawyer Jones.
https://natureisle.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/230128_0721.mp3
https://natureisle.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/230128_0722.mp3