Teenager: 'He put gun to my head'

A teenage girl today told a jury how a masked gunman put a firearm to her head during a home invasion last year.

Edwina Dowling, 19, today testified in the trial of Terrence Christopher, 22, and Shayne James, 19, Tyrone Pedro, 22, and Jasmin Smith, 20.

They deny aggravated burglary with a machete and using an imitation firearm to commit an indictable offence.

The court heard on the night in question, the four broke into Rhonda Wilkinson’s Middle Road, Devonshire home at 8:30pm on April 2.

Ms Smith is said to have knocked on the door and allowed the other defendants in.

Items taken included jewelry, money, a video game set and cannabis.

Ms Dowling, a cousin of Ms Wilkinson, lived in the house and was watching TV when she heard a knock on the door.

The witness said she looked out the window and saw a girl wearing a hooded top who she had seen once at the bus terminal.

She described the girl as “tomboyish”.

Crown counsel Susan Mulligan then asked the witness if she opened the door.

Ms Dowling told the court she didn’t open the door but went to her cousin’s room to tell her what she saw.

Asked why she didn’t open the door, the witness said: “It didn’t seem right because she was a girl with a hooded top at the door.”

Ms Dowling said Ms Wilkinson went to the door and she stayed in the bedroom with Cori Broadbelt, Ms Wilkinson’s boyfriend.

Asked what happened next, Ms Dowling said: “The guy with the gun came in and told me to sit down on the bed and don’t move.”

She said the man then put the gun to her head, near her temple.

Ms Dowling said another man entered the room with a machete.

“He went to Cori’s side but I didn’t see what happened.

“The guy with the machete said ‘where is it, where is it’.”

She said Mr Broadbelt didn’t respond to the man.

Ms Dowling also told the jury she saw the man go to Ms Wilkinson’s dresser but didn’t see what he took.

The witness said she wasn’t sure how long the incident lasted and didn’t hear noise from any of the other rooms in the house.

The trial continues.