By Latrishka Thomas
Four more witnesses took the stand yesterday in the trial of Nathaniel Simons who is believed to have stabbed Phillip Lugg to death in 2020.
The first of the four was a close friend of Lugg who lived next door.
He told the court that he was there on the morning of June 7 2020 when the tragic incident took place.
He claimed that Simons, a barber, was the aggressor and was the only one armed with a knife in the fight.
This was contrary to what the roommate of the two men told the court the day prior.
The elderly roommate had testified that Lugg would “make problems” with Simons for simple things such as clothespins. And she told the court that the antagonism started when Simons spoke to Lugg about covering his portion of the bills.
She also recalled that on the day of the incident the two men pointed knives at each other but were separated.
Both witnesses, however, said that a fight erupted resulting in Simons receiving a blow to his head with a teacup and Lugg being stabbed.
The great cousin of Lugg and niece of Simons was the second person to take the stand yesterday and brought the accused to tears.
She said that she saw Lugg’s lifeless body at the hospital and later identified him at the morgue.
She also recalled that the accused was “very nice” to Lugg.
In fact she said that she saw the accused at the hospital with a head wound and he was in tears.
Another friend of both men gave a brief statement and then an officer.
The trial will resume today.
Twenty-eight-year-old Lugg’s lifeless body was reportedly found on a Potters roadside with blood oozing from his mouth and nose.
He is also said to have had visible stab wounds to various parts of his body.
And despite heart compressions performed by an Emergency Medical Services technician, Lugg reportedly died before ambulances arrived half an hour later.