A 25-year-old man accused of a 2017 murder has been granted Supreme Court bail. Jamie Patnett, the accused, had since been on remand but is now on bail after his attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley successfully argued that the prosecution had no DNA evidence against his client. The prosecution has not yet been able to find forensic evidence against Patnett since they have not yet sent a sample to be tested. The prosecution asked for a further adjournment in the matter until December and with that, Justice Colin Williams granted Patnett bail with conditions.
Patnett, who was charged along with another person, has been accused of the March 2017 murder of 18-year-old Kerona Ara. The body was found by a security guard at the dumpsite in Belmopan. She had gone missing and after being stabbed multiple times and slashed to the throat, her body was set on fire.
Ara’s mother, Sherelen Mai, has publicly expressed her surprise and discontent with the accused murderer of her daughter being granted bail. She has cried out for justice, saying that she was shocked to hear that Patnett was out on bail. Her daughter was brutally murdered before her body was set on fire, so badly that her upper body and face were burnt beyond recognition. Mai was only able to identify her daughter’s body by her tattoos and it is a reality, which has haunted her for more than three years now. Besides living in this grave reality, Mai says that she and her family are also fearful that the second accused person also receives bail and are worried for their lives. This is because just two weeks prior to Ara’s murder, she had received threats to her life. A report was allegedly made to the police but could not be located.
