Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett has advised a seventeen-year-old male to seek forgiveness from God after he struck his 70-year-old grandfather on his head with a steel chair.
The teenager, Zachary Haywood, was taken to court on a criminal charge but his grandfather, Caspar Haywood, when called to the witness stand, said it was a family dispute and he did not wish to pursue the matter any further.
The elderly Haywood had some difficulty hearing and he spoke loudly when he responded to questions. A court orderly, standing close to the witness stand, assisted in relaying questions to him.
Asked if he made the decision not to pursue the matter further, he said yes.
The elder Haywood also told the court that he first struck his grandson to chase him away and his grandson retaliated by striking him in his head with the steel chair.
“You did that?” Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett asked the younger Haywood.
The prosecutor Corlene Samuel said that based on what the virtual complainant said in terms of his decision, the prosecution was offering no further evidence in the matter.
The prosecutor said that regardless of the situation, the facts as given were that there was a dispute and the grandfather struck his grandson because he was disrespectful and the grandson struck him with the chair.
The Senior Magistrate said that he wanted to see the report of injury form. He asked the elder Haywood where his grandson struck him. The elder Waywood pointed to the side of his head and he replied: “Is after I lash him with the cane to come out my yard and he run go out. So I turn my back now going back to the porch, he come behind and lash me with the chair, but I lash him first.”
The Senior Magistrate told the younger Haywood that he could have killed his grandfather.
“You don’t do that to an old man. He’s your grandfather. Oh gosh, man. How yo’ go treat the old man like that?” the Senior Magistrate told the teenaged Haywood.
“You have to pray and ask for forgiveness,” he advised the younger Haywood.