Scores of St Lucians converged near the Castries High Court on Friday August 31st to catch a glimpse of the prime suspect in the murder of Christal St Omer. As police officers quickly rushed the 19-year-old into the building, shouts of “murdere” could been heard from onlookers. Dressed in a yellow long sleeve and grey khaki pants, the young man walked into the courtroom when his case number 1750 was called. With a straight face the young man charged with causing the death of 17-year-old Christal St Omer appeared very quiet with only a nod letting the judge know he understands what charges were brought against him. Christal St Omer’s body was found in the Cap Estate area on Saturday 25th September. Virnet St Omer-Fontenelle together with Doshia St Omer both attended the arraignment. Still emotional, both relatives looked up at Charles who kept his head down, never once looking up at the benches where the family sat as he walked past them. His attorney, Huggins Neil Nicholas stood in agreement to the prosecution’s request for one month’s sufficiency hearing which is slated for September 20th allowing the state to prepare their file in presenting all evidence collected in the case. Upon conclusion of that hearing, another hearing is set before a Judge at the High Court slated for October 19th, 2012. Speaking to reporters outside of the Courthouse, Nicholas says he is not at all concerned with the great level of public concern in this case. He says he will defend his client with the same level of enthusiasm as he has done in the past. “I am not at all concerned. When we get the evidence, then we take it from there. I cannot make any comment as to what happens or what the public says. I will not be listening to what the public says. I will only deal with the evidence when it comes my way,” said Nicholas. Cousin of the victim, Virnet St Omer-Fontenelle also spoke to reporters outside of the Court House: “As a family, we can now put a name and a face to this heinous crime against Christal. Now that the chain has been set in motion, we anticipate that the schedule for an eventual sentence of this young man will be kept to a reasonable time frame so that five years down the road we are not looking at an indefinite period of time on remand where we have another situation where the perpetrator now becomes the victim. “In the interest of ensuring that the victim gets the justice that she deserves, we expect that the case that the police have now put to the court and all of the issues of sufficiency hearing and going forward to be steady and the family will be keeping abreast with the events in this case,” said Fontenelle. She also took some time to empathize with the family of the young man who has been charged for the unlawful cause of death of Christal St Omer. She adds that no mother should have to see their young son go through such ordeal, however, she says Charles is not the victim in this situation. “I have no opinion of the young man and I will say nothing about the demeanor of the young man nor will I create any prejudice or create any sort of antagonistic view of the young man. The courts will do its business. “The boy is quite young. I was taken aback when I saw how young he was. Honestly, at this point I understand that another family is in pain. Despite our misfortune, we are fortunate not to be the ones to see our loved one in that kind of condition,” said St Omer-Fontenelle. No application for bail was filed by the defense in this case.
