A text message about ‘sacrifice’?
Ex of defendant in 2017 Shineka Gray murder case testifies to ominous message
Published:Thursday | November 30, 2023 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
GREGORY ROBERTS, the man currently on trial for the 2017 murder of schoolgirl Shineka Gray, reportedly wanted a video to be delivered to his ex-girlfriend shortly after he sent her a text message containing the foreboding word ‘sacrifice’ and three days before the teenager’s body was found.
That was the ex-girlfriend’s testimony when she spoke before the St James Circuit Court on Wednesday, all while Roberts sat in the prisoner’s dock with an occasional smile as he listened to her evidence-in-chief.
Responding to questions from lead prosecutor Andrea Martin-Swaby, the witness recounted how she received the text message from Roberts, with whom she had broken off their relationship sometime prior to January 29, 2017. The following day, she said, he asked her about a video she reportedly should have received from a mutual acquaintance.
“Gregory texted me from his phone, [and] there was a mention about ‘sacrifice’. That word was in the text message,” the witness told the court.
“When you saw that word, did you respond to him?” Martin-Swaby asked.
“I’m sure I did respond, but I can’t tell you the exact words,” the witness answered.
“Did you receive or make any text to Gregory [after that exchange]?” Martin-Swaby inquired.
“Gregory did text me asking if [acquaintance] showed me the video, and I said ‘What video?’ and he said, ‘I asked him to send you the video’. I am not sure what this video is about,” the witness replied.
Eerily, the acquaintance in question had previously testified in court on Monday that on January 29, 2017, Roberts came to him wearing bloodstained clothes and showed him a video of himself, Roberts, stabbing a young girl.
MONEY GIVEN
The ex-girlfriend also admitted that on the preceding Saturday, January 28, Roberts had given her $10,000 and later sent her a text message suggesting that he wanted to visit her but that she did not respond to that message.
Under cross-examination from Roberts’ lawyer, Chumu Parris, the witness denied that she had ever got money from Roberts on more than one occasion or that she had ever made him any previous promises.
“I am suggesting to you that on the weekend before January 28, you asked Greg (Roberts) to give you $10,000, which he did, and when he gave you the $10,000, he did not have any conditions. When he gave you the $10,000 on the Saturday, he told you he was giving you this money as a sacrifice for the money he had for his daughter,” said Parris.
“I am telling you, no. I don’t know of that,” the witness said impatiently.
“The week before, you had promised to visit him, and you did not do it. On January 28, he said to you, ‘Remember how you scammed me the last time’,” Parris pressed.
“I disagree. I can’t recall that,” the witness shot back.
UNANSWERED PHONE CALLS
Meanwhile, the court also heard testimony from a former schoolmate of Gray’s, who testified that they had purchased food at a fast-food outlet in Montego Bay on the evening of January 29, 2017, and that afterwards, Gray went to a taxi stand for taxis destined for Bogue, Montego Bay.
The schoolmate also testified that someone called Gray’s cellular phone approximately 48 times but that she did not answer the calls.
The trial continues on Thursday morning.
So far, the court has heard testimony from six of 18 witnesses for the prosecution in the matter against Roberts, who was arrested and charged with Gray’s murder after the schoolgirl’s body was found with stab wounds in bushes in Irwin, St James, on February 1, 2017.
Mario Morrison, another defendant who was arrested and charged along with Roberts, pleaded guilty in September 2022 and was sentenced one month later to life imprisonment, leaving Roberts as the sole remaining defendant.