By Elesha George
A number of High Court cases have been adjourned to 2025, including the murder trial of a soca artiste and the sentencing of a former financial worker who used her position to swindle money from her clients.
The trial of Shawn “Soca Slide” Mussington, accused of the 2020 murder of his ex-lover Simone Whyte, has been delayed. Mussington is alleged to have stabbed Whyte near her salon in the capital city in November 2020 before fleeing the scene, sparking a police manhunt.
His trial is now scheduled for March 3, 2025, during the next Assizes. Whyte was 45 years old at the time of her death.
Kerry Walker was expected to be sentenced on Monday after admitting to exploiting friendships, relationships, and school connections to embezzle more than $50,000 in loan payments while she worked as a delinquent loans officer at the St John’s Cooperative Credit Union.
She misused loan payments totalling over $50,000 from multiple credit union members who had trusted her to process their monthly instalments between 2018 and 2020.
She manipulated due dates in the credit union’s system and withheld arrears notifications to cover up the missing payments. The fraudulent scheme came to light while Walker was on maternity leave, prompting clients to discover that their loans were significantly overdue despite their regular payments.
Victims claimed they never received receipts for their payments despite repeated requests, but their trust in Walker, strengthened by personal connections, led them to continue making payments without insisting on documentation.
Her case has been adjourned to January 20, 2025 to give time for the court to review her probation report which was not readily available yesterday due to a backlog.
In addition, Deondre Samuel, who faces charges in connection with the first road fatality of 2022, has had his hearing deferred. Samuel is accused of causing the death of 29-year-old Lashauna Bridgen of Yorks, who was struck while attempting to cross a highway early in the morning. The incident occurred while Samuel, then 26, was driving a Toyota Crown.
His case will return to court on January 20, 2025, for a fixed trial date to be set.
