A female bar operator, who is alleged to have stabbed her male lover to death in 2015, had her bail extended when she appeared before the St Ann Parish Court on Thursday, June 2.
The witnesses in the matter are to return to the police station to give their statements, in accordance with the new Committal Proceedings Act.
The woman charged with murder is Ingrid Johnson, a bar operator of Farm Town, Discovery Bay, St Ann. She is accused of stabbing to death 30-year-old Knyica McWashington, of Woods Town, Discovery Bay in what is said to have been a domestic dispute.
When the matter was brought before senior parish judge Andrea Thomas on Thursday morning, it was revealed that the case file was still incomplete as among the documents outstanding was the post-mortem report.
A cousin of McWashington appeared in court and explained to the senior judge that he was told by a relative overseas to come to court and represent them in the matter. However, the cousin was not a witness in the matter.
Senior parish judge Thomas later explained to the man that he should advise those members of his family who were witnesses that they would have to go back to the police station to give their statements in accordance with the new Committal Proceedings Act.
Before a mention date was set, the attorney representing the accused woman asked the parish judge for a variation in her bail. He explained that she had previously reported three times a week to the Ocho Rios police station. He further reminded the judge that the circumstances that led to the murder were domestic in nature.
The accused, Johnson’s bail was varied for her to report only on Mondays at the Ocho Rios police station.
The case will be mentioned on September 1. Johnson had her bail extended until then.
Reports are that on Friday, January 23, 2015, Johnson was at her bar in Farm Town, Discovery Bay, when McWashington went there and started a fight with her. The fight reportedly continued outside the premises when a knife was brought into play. McWashington allegedly received stab wounds to his left eye, right side and right hand. Police said he succumbed to his injuries at hospital.
Johnson, who was 50 at the time, was arrested and charged for murder and appeared in the St Ann’s Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court (now St Ann Parish Court) on Thursday, January 29, 2015, where she was offered bail in the sum of $500,000.
