Quada Murder Case Delayed

A judge on Tuesday has set the next court date to March in the trial of Dancehall artiste Quada, who is accused of murder and arson.

Quada appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-Way-Tree yesterday but the hearing was stalled after the prosecution was unable to present a final statement. The judge has rescheduled the case to March 4, 2021, as the final deadline for the prosecution’s disclosure.

Attorney for the Celebration singer, Bianca Samuels, told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that “unfortunately, this is not abnormal in terms of the delay in the court system, but no client is aware of that and no client really cares. They just want to have their case resolved.”

“We were told the investigating officer is on leave and the liaison officer is ill, so neither of them could get the document,” she added.

Quada, whose real name is Shacquelle Clarke, is eager to prove his innocence after making his seventh court appearance in the matter yesterday.

“My client is exhausted and understandably so. He’s irritated, he is frustrated, as he has been on the past six occasions. He is anxious to prove his innocence and that process is being delayed further and further,” Samuels said.

The 23-year-old protégé of Dancehall star Popcaan shocked fans after police arrested him on January 15, 2020, for the 2019 murder of Miguel Williams, 30, in Sterling Castle Heights, St, Andrew and arson of his home on April 17, 2019.

Williams is alleged to have been involved in the murder of eight-year-old Shantae Skyers, whose body was found in Blue Hole, a section of Sterling Castle Heights.

The child went missing in 2019 before her body was found. Her family believes she was raped before being killed.

Reports said Williams was killed after angry residents stormed into his house, beat him, then placed tires around his body and set him afire inside the building.  Another man, 30-year-old Andrew Breakcliffe, was also charged with murder and arson for his alleged participation in the killing.

Quada rose to prominence at Popcaan’s Unruly Fest in St. Thomas in December 2019, and is best known for his songs More Money More Life, Celebration, and Hail.