Detective Constable Shawn Pennington was freed of murder charges on Tuesday. The lawman had been accused of fatally shooting Rishawn Oliver in Point Hill, St Catherine in 2018.

Pennington appeared before Justice Bertram Morrison in the St Catherine Circuit Court today.

The allegations heard in court were that Oliver was shot shortly before 11:00 pm along the Pusey main road in Point Hill in February 2018.

Before he died, Oliver reportedly informed a friend, along with thepolice officers who took him to the hospital, of the identity of his attacker.

Pennington was first arrested and charged with murder by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) one day after the February 24 incident.

The case against Pennington had previously been dismissed by a parish judge in 2018 because of the judge’s interpretation of the recent Court of Appeal decision in a case that was brought against INDECOM by the Police Federation.

The Appeal Court had indicated in that judgement that INDECOM does not have the right to bring a charge of murder against a police officer, resulting in five cops, including Pennington, being freed of varying offences.

However, law enforcement sources said days after the decision of the Parish Court judge, Paula Llewellyn, the director of Public Prosecutions, ruled that there is sufficient evidence for the case to be put to a jury.