A Laven­tille man has been freed of mur­der­ing a fel­low res­i­dent in 2009 af­ter the State’s main wit­ness ad­mit­ted he had lied.

Ash­ton “Doi Doi” Med­i­na spent more than 16 years on re­mand be­fore he was found not guilty of mur­der, at­tempt­ed mur­der, and shoot­ing with in­tent at the end of his judge-alone tri­al be­fore Jus­tice Trevor Jones ear­li­er this week.

Med­i­na was ac­cused of mur­der­ing 20-year-old Ken­roy Joseph on April 26, 2009. Joseph, of Priz­gar Lands, Laven­tille, was dri­ving his car in Suc­cess Vil­lage when a gun­man opened fire on him.