A man accused of murder told jurors yesterday that he did not kill the victim.

Under cross-examination Kiari Tucker maintained that he was in the Curving Avenue area when Morlan Steede was fatally shot and denied that he was the man caught on CCTV near the murder scene.

The 22-year-old said: “You are just assuming things. It’s not me.”

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr Tucker chased and fatally shot Mr Steede in the Deepdale area of Pembroke on November 3, 2017.

Mr Tucker denies murder and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence.

On Tuesday, he told the court that on the night of the murder he had gone to Deepdale to buy cannabis and saw Mr Steede.

The defendant said that he knew Mr Steede by his “street name”, “Clappa”, while he was known as “Blocka”.

Mr Tucker told the court that after he left Deepdale he returned briefly to Court Street before he walked to Curving Avenue to prepare crack cocaine to be sold.

As the trial continued yesterday, Carrington Mahoney, for the Crown, suggested that Mr Tucker had actually only walked towards Elliot Street, where he got a ride back to Deepdale.

Mr Mahoney said mobile phone evidence had suggested the defendant’s phone was in the Deepdale area shortly after he was seen walking away from Court Street.

He said: “You were either in the Deepdale area, Cemetery Road or you were in the vicinity of the junction of Parsons Road and Deepdale.”

But Mr Tucker responded that he did not have enough time to make it from Court Street to Deepdale.

He said: “You are saying it takes 20 seconds to get from Fish n Tings to Deepdale? That’s what you are saying.”

Mr Tucker added: “I was on Curving Avenue.”

He also denied any suggestion that he was the figure seen on CCTV cameras in the Deepdale area before the murder, or that he was the man caught on camera chasing after Mr Steede.

Mr Mahoney suggested Mr Tucker left the area, put jean pants over his trousers and changed his shoes before he carried out the shooting, and then removed the additional clothing before he returned to Court Street.

Mr Tucker denied the claim, and asked why he would leave the jeans and shoes in his bedroom after the shooting. However, he said he had no explanation as to how gun shot residue could have ended up on the clothing.

Mr Mahoney also played footage from Court Street after Mr Tucker returned to the area without his jacket and asked the defendant if it appeared like he was sweating in the recording.

Mr Tucker agreed that his head looked “moist”.

Mr Mahoney added: “Like you were running for your life.”

The defendant denied the suggestion and maintained he had nothing to do with the murder.

Mr Tucker said: “I did not kill Clappa, I didn’t. I tell you I did not kill Clappa.”

The trial continues.

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