The judge in the Kellon Hill murder trial yesterday urged the jury to put public pressure and sympathy for the victim's family aside when deciding whether Kellan Lewis is guilty.

Puisne Justice Charles-Etta Simmons was addressing the ten women and two men of the jury as the Supreme Court trial which began on May 26 reached the final summing-up stage.

"I must warn you about sympathy and prejudice. You must put out of your minds any sympathy that you have for the deceased's family or the defendant's family. It simply plays no part in the trial process," she said.

Kellan Lewis, 17, is accused by prosecutors of inflicting a fatal stab wound to 18-year-old Mr. Hill's heart as the victim left a late-night beach party last August 9. Lewis denies murdering Mr. Hill and possession of a knife. He's the only defendant out of the original five charged with murder to remain on trial.

The others Kevin Warner, 19, Zharrin Simmons, 17, Gary Hollis, 16, and Devon Hairston, 18 were also alleged by prosecutors to have been part of a fight with the victim that resulted in his death.

They denied that charge plus individual charges of weapons possession. Mr. Hollis and Mr. Hairston were alleged to have wielded helmets against Mr. Hill, Miss Simmons a screwdriver and Mr. Warner a walking cane.

However, those four defendants were cleared of the charges by Judge Charles-Etta Simmons at the close of the prosecution case on the basis that they had no case to answer based on the evidence.

The judge told the jury yesterday that they must not allow "public pressure" to play on their minds when coming to a verdict in the case of Lewis. She warned that they must not make a decision based merely on the fact that the other four defendants are no longer before them.

"It's impermissible to reason 'well, the others have gone so we may as well find the defendant Lewis guilty', or 'the others have gone so we may as well find the defendant Lewis not guilty'," she told them.

In his closing speech to the jury on Wednesday, prosecutor Michael McColm reminded them of expert evidence from forensic pathologist Dr. Valerie Rao that although Mr. Hill suffered numerous injuries, it was a stab to the heart inflicted with a knife that killed him.

Other prosecution witnesses told the court during the trial that Lewis was walking around the party shouting prior to the incident and it began when he, accompanied by Gary Hollis, snatched Mr. Hill's gold chain from around his neck.

One 15-year-old girl who gave evidence for the prosecution described seeing Lewis with a black-handled knife that night. She claimed she saw him use it to stab Mr. Hill "a lot of times".

However, defence lawyer John Perry QC cast doubt on the evidence of the girl, who admitted on the stand that she'd based other parts of her testimony on reports she'd read in a newspaper.

Lewis said in his evidence that he got into a fight with Mr. Hill after the latter took offence to jokes he'd made at the expense of his cousin, Diondea Symons, and his mother. Lewis admitted trying to pull Mr. Hill off his bike and punching him twice. However, he denied having a knife with him and using it to stab Mr. Hill and he denied snatching his chain.

The prosecution did not produce a knife as evidence in the case.

Giving directions on the law yesterday, the judge said the jury needed to be sure that Lewis inflicted the fatal stab wound, and that he intended to kill Mr. Hill or cause him serious bodily harm.

"The prosecution must make you sure of the defendant's guilt. Nothing less will do," she told them.

The court proceedings halted after just 30 minutes to allow people to attend politician Nelson Bascome's funeral. The judge is due to recap on the evidence for the jury today before sending the men and women out to consider their verdicts.

It is due to resume today.