The prosecution accused two defence witnesses of lying yesterday as they took the stand in the Kellon Hill murder trial.

The two men one a friend of defendant Kellan Lewis claimed a key prosecution witness's evidence about seeing Lewis stab the victim was in fact false.

The witness, a 16-year-old girl, told the jury two weeks ago she saw Lewis stab Mr. Hill with a knife "more than once".

Mr. Hill, 18, died of a stab wound to the heart after trying to retrieve a gold chain which Lewis allegedly snatched from around his neck.

A fight ensued during which he was set upon by four other teenagers Gary Hollis, 16, Zharrin Simmons, 17, Devon Hairston, 18, and Kevin Warner, 19.

The Crown say Mr. Hill was attacked with a walking cane, motorcycle helmets and a screwdriver, but that the fatal wound was caused by a knife.

The incident took place in the public access road to Elbow Beach, as Mr. Hill was leaving a party around 11 p.m. on August 9, 2008.

Lewis, 18, denies murder and possession of a knife in a public place.

Yesterday, after Lewis finished giving evidence in the trial, John DeShields was called as a defence witness.

Mr. DeShields, of Devonshire, told the jury he is a father figure to the 16-year-old girl who told the court she saw Lewis stab Mr. Hill.

However he claimed to have spoken with her two days after the murder and said she told him she had not seen the stabbing.

When defence lawyer John Perry QC asked what his reaction was to hear what the girl had told the jury, Mr. DeShields replied "I was alarmed. She told me on that Monday that she didn't see anything. That she was too far away."

The 16-year-old is the only prosecution witness who claims to have seen Lewis stab Mr. Hill, although others claim to have seen him with a knife.

This newspaper did not publish her name when she gave evidence, due to her young age. She is related to Devon Hairston.

When Mr. Perry cross-examined the girl in the trial, she admitted it may not have been Lewis who inflicted the fatal wound. And she admitted she did not tell Police she had seen Lewis with a knife until nine months after the incident.

But yesterday prosecutor Carrington Mahoney accused Mr. DeShields of lying about his conversation with the girl in the aftermath of the killing.

He pointed out that the girl gave similar evidence in an earlier hearing of the murder case, last June, but that Mr. DeShields had only approached the defence team last week.

Mr. DeShields told the court he was unaware of the girl's evidence until last week. He said he heard about it days after she gave evidence in court.

Under cross-examination, he admitted he is an acquaintance of Lewis's mother, Jan Martin a former Policewoman who sat in the public gallery yesterday. He said he has had multiple conversations with her about the murder case.

The prosecution accused him of giving false evidence to help Lewis.

"I'm suggesting to you that you are just here because the mother, this accused man's mother, wants you to come up here and say something to help her son," said Mr. Mahoney.

"That's not true, "replied Mr. DeShields.

"And you are lying on [the girl]," continued Mr. Mahoney.

"That's not true," replied the witness.

The defence then called Kelvin Warner, the 19-year-old brother of Kevin Warner, to the witness stand.

Mr. Perry asked him about a telephone conversation he claims to have had with the 16-year-old on the morning of August 10, 2008.

Mr. Warner said he has known the girl for four years and that he stayed at the Hairston family home between July and October of last year.

After his brother was arrested as a suspect in the murder, on the morning of August 10, 2008, Mr. Warner said he received a telephone call from the girl, at around 8 a.m.

"She said there was a fight and Kellon got killed," he said.

"Did you ask her if she saw who did it?" asked Mr. Perry.

"She told me she couldn't see the fight, she was talking to some girl," he replied.

"Have you told the jury the truth," asked Mr. Perry.

"Yes," he said.

Under cross-examination however, Mr. Mahoney accused Mr. Warner of lying to "save" his friend, Lewis.

"The accused Lewis is your friend, and you would try to help him out if you could?" asked Mr. Mahoney.

"Yes," said Mr. Warner.

"And that's what you're trying to do now?" he asked.

"No," he said.

Mr. Mahoney then asked if John DeShields was his "boss".

"Yes," he replied.

He admitted he had sat through the earlier court hearing but had not flagged up the girl's claims that she saw Lewis stab Mr. Hill as contradicting her claims of not seeing anything.

Mr. Warner added he was only contacted by the defence last Sunday.

"Did Mr. DeShields speak to you about the case?" asked Mr. Mahoney.

"Yes," he said.

"Did Lewis's mother make contact with you?" asked the prosecutor.

"No," he said.

Mr. Mahoney asked why, if he was friends with Lewis, did he not tell anyone earlier that the girl's claim to have seen Lewis stab Mr. Hill was "untrue".

"Having spoken to Mr. DeShields, did you communicate that to the accused man's mother?" asked Mr. Mahoney.

"No," he said.

"To your brother?"

"I can't say, I can't recall," replied Mr. Warner.

"The reason why you never said anything to anybody was that the girl never said anything to you. This is all a concoction, a lie," said Mr. Mahoney.

"You have reason to lie to save your friend."

"No, I don't agree," he replied.

"Even if you are reluctant to tell the Police, why did you never tell your good friend [Lewis], who you could assist with the truth?" asked Mr. Mahoney.

"I can't give a reason for that," said Mr. Warner.

"All you have told us today about the girl is pure lies to try to save your friend," said Mr. Mahoney.

"I'm telling you the truth," he insisted.

The trial continues.