Estika Halley (right), her attorney Sjamira Roseburg (left) and family members, friends and supporters marching to the Courthouse on Thursday morning.
PHILIPSBURG--The man suspected of having stabbed 2016 Senior Carnival Queen Estika Halley multiple times, and who allegedly tried to slit her throat on July 31, will be facing attempted murder and manslaughter charges, the prosecutor announced during Thursday’s pro-forma hearing. The actual trial hearing will be held March 1, 2023.
Halley had to fight for her life after she was stabbed multiple times, for instance, in her throat, her back and chest, hands and fingers, and her ankles. She was taken in critical but stable condition to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Maarten Medical Center, and survived the ordeal.
The attempt on Halley’s life unfolded at the parking lot of Emerald funeral home and crematory in Cay Hill, across from the hospital entrance. The funeral company’s cameras recorded the brutal attack. The recording will be part of the evidence in this case.
The alleged perpetrator M.M.B. (38) fled the scene in the victim’s car, which was later found in French Quarter. He reported himself at the police station in Philipsburg later that day.
He will remain in preventive custody until his trial, which is due in four months, considering the severity of the alleged crime.
The investigation is in full swing, the prosecutor said Thursday, stating that witnesses and the suspect are still to be – additionally – questioned. Also, the results of investigations by the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) are still to be forthcoming, while reports by the Probation Service and a psychologist were requested.
Thursday’s hearing took place in a well-guarded courthouse, which is currently under renovation. The suspect was escorted into and out of the courtroom by four members of the Police Arrest Team. There was also a large police presence outside the courthouse.
A group consisting of members of the Halley family and friends and sympathisers of the victim, who had gathered at the Government Administration Building, marched to the Courthouse in the heart of Philipsburg. Members of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams and Raeyhon Peterson were among those walking with Halley and her lawyer Sjamira Roseburg.
Group members carried banners and wore T-shirts in their call for a stop to violence against women. The T-shirts were printed with the text: “She is the voice for those who were silenced. Justice for Estika”.
Halley, who is the mother of a little girl, and a beautician by profession, will give a statement to the court during the trial hearing, her lawyer said.
Members of the Police Arrest Team escorting M.M.B. into a vehicle to take him back to Pointe Blanche prison.
