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KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – An 18-year-old youth will return to the Serious Offences Court next Monday, charged with the murder of another 18-year-old, who died at the hospital after being stabbed on November 11.
Police have charged Romano Warren, alias “Street kid”, with the murder of Gary Bute, after he had been stabbed two weeks ago.
Warren, who was not represented when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Colin John, had earlier given his age as 15 years, but one of the detectives involved in the case presented a birth certificate showing his age.
The magistrate read and explained the charge to Warren, telling him that he was not allowed to plead at that stage and that he would also not be granted bail. Warren told the court that he understood.
The magistrate had initially set the preliminary inquiry for January 6, 2026, telling the lead investigator that while he had more than a month before the next court hearing, that was no reason for him to sit on the investigation and then scramble to complete it one week before.
However, counsel Grant Connell, who was at the bar table but not involved in the case, rose and said that, given the factual matrix of the case and Warren’s age, he did not see any reason why the Bar Association would not send a lawyer to assist the accused.
“I don’t know if that could speed up the matter,” Connell said and asked that the next hearing in the matter take place on Monday to allow the President of the Bar Association, Shirlan “Zita” Barnwell, to decide which lawyer to assign to the case
The lawyer told the court that he would speak to Barnwell on the matter.
