By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, BELMOPAN, Belize, Fri. June 11, 2021: The family of Superintendent Henry Jemmott, who was shot and killed by Jasmine Hartin, the partner of the son ofwell-known British magnate, Lord Ashcroft, is reportedly set to file a wrongful death suit.
Thirty-two-year-old Canadian was released on BDZ$30,000 bail by Supreme Court judge, Justice Herbert Lord Wednesday, despite objections by the Crown Counsel, Shanice Lovell, that the accused is a flight risk.
Hartin, however, had to immediately surrender her travel documents, IDs, and social security card and is also required report to a police station on a daily basis between 7.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. (local time).
Hartin, the partner on Andrew Ashcroft, had been in police custody since June 2 after the body of the senior police officer was discovered on a pier in the resort town of San Pedro.
According to official reports, the accused and the deceased were on a dock in front of Mata Rocks Beach Resort south of the town when during the early hours of the morning a single shot was heard. The single bullet from Jemmott’s service weapon caught him behind the right ear. His body was discovered in the water beside the dock. Hartin was found with blood on her clothes and hands.
Hartin’s caution statement, according to Belize News 5, were read before the court today, as Superintendent Henry Jemmott’s sister sat in on the session. Hartin said: “He asked me to hand him the magazine so he can reload it. I tried to take out the magazine, which was stuck, and the firearm discharged.”
Her Attorney, Godfrey Smith, also said that the senior cop had allowed his client to handle the firearm the previous week and that both the accused and the deceased were drinking leading up to the fatal shooting.
Jemmott, a father of five, supposedly told a friend that he was going on a “secret date,” and that he refused to name the woman he was meeting, according to the Evening Standard.
The official death certificate filed by Belize’s medical examiner states that the cause of death was a “massive brain hemorrhage” due to a “gunshot wound to the head.” The family said their decision to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against Hartin is based on the medical examiner’s findings.
Hartin is the director of lifestyle and experience at the Alaia Belize resort, where she was staying before Jemmott’s death.
Lord Ashcroft is Belize’s former ambassador to the United Nations and his lawyer, the country’s former attorney general.
Jemmott according to Belize media reports had worked in various aspects of policing and was recently the officer commanding San Ignacio Police Formation. In May of this year, he was transferred to Belize City to take over command of precinct two.
