The State v Ceyon Nicholas Aka Six

• Jurisdiction: Trinidad & Tobago
• Court: High Court (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Judge: Singh, J.
• Judgment Date: 20 February 2026
• Neutral Citation: TT 2026 HC 80
• Year: 2026
• Docket Number: Suit No.: CR-HC-POS-2025-1305-1-A-B

The State

and

Ceyon Nicholas Aka Six

Singh, J.

Suit No.: CR-HC-POS-2025-1305-1-A-B

High Court

Mr. S. Noriega, C. Bisram and A. Williams appeared on behalf of the State.

Mr. R Tota-Maharaj appeared on behalf of the Accused.

RULING

INTRODUCTION

Singh, J.

1 The accused, Ceyon Nicholas, otherwise known as “Six”, stands indicted for the murders of Richie Richard Ragoo and Nyron Phillip, which is alleged to have occurred on the 25th day of October 2021 at Arima, in the County of St. George.

2 The prosecution's case rests principally on the evidence of the surviving victim, Zachary Cezair, who maintains that he had two separate opportunities to observe the gunman at close range. He recounts that he, his uncle Nyron, and his uncle's friend Richie were sitting in a garage when the assailant ran up alongside a van that was parked nearby and stepped directly into the garage. A yellow light positioned above the front door, close to where Richie was seated, illuminated the area, and Zachary Cezair says his view of the man was completely unobstructed. At a distance of approximately 7 feet, he claims he obtained a clear, frontal view of the assailant for approximately two seconds.

3 Zachary Cezair attempted to flee but was shot and fell to the ground. While lying on his stomach, curled up and pretending to be dead, he was shot a second time, this time in his foot and scrotum. Despite this, he says he had a second, longer opportunity to observe the shooter. From that position, he claims he could still see the assailant standing over Richie and firing several shots before turning the gun towards a nearby maxi taxi and then running off. He estimates that this second period of observation lasted five seconds.

4 The witness describes the assailant as a dark-complexioned man of African descent, approximately 5′6″ to 5′7″ tall, moderately muscular, with a small beard. He says the gunman was dressed in a baby-blue polo jersey with the word “Polo” written in silver, and wore a matching hat or hoodie that covered his face from the eyebrows upward, along with dark-coloured pants.

5 In his first statement, which was recorded from the witness on the 28th of October 2021 whilst at the hospital, Zachary Cezair was expressly asked whether he knew the man who shot him. His response was unequivocal: he said he did not know the assailant and that it was the first time he had ever seen him. This was not an incidental omission but a direct answer to a direct question, recorded at a stage when his recollection of the events was likely to be freshest. The statement contains a detailed account of the shooting, including distances, lighting, movements, and the sequence of shots, and on the central issue of prior familiarity, he clearly indicated that the gunman was a stranger.

THE FIRST STATEMENT

6 The contents of the statement in the relevant part are set out below.

“I was at home on Monday, 25th October, 2021, when my uncle Nyron Phillip called me around 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. the afternoon and he tell me he want me change a cradle in a van and he go give me a hundred. All of us does live Carapo, but my uncle live in Carapo Main Road, Carapo. He come and pick me up around 5:30 p.m. in the evening and then we went by he padna Richie Ragoo garage in Jokhan Trace in Carapo. We reach there in about five minutes time and we meet Richie there… We park up the van and take off the two wheels in front, and then my uncle and Richie left and went by Richie father in Carapo to press in the bushing he living on the same road. While they went and press in the bushing for the vehicle, I take off the two rack ends from the vehicle and change it by the time and the take about a ten minutes to come back and when they came back we fix up the van and then my uncle tell me drive it and see if it working. Then we end up sitting down and drinking some puncheon then I went out the road next to Helen grocery and buy a next half ah puncheon and went back by Richie. When we start to drink we take about three drink out of it and then I hear some shots go baw baw baw it was three shots about one after the next like a second apart. I stand up and ask was da boy and when I say that my uncle stand up and watch over the van and same time the man come running up the side of the van. Me and my uncle was facing Richie and he meaning Richie was facing the road so he see the man first. Same time the man say yuh mudda cunt and he start to shoot Richie he was still sitting down on the bucket. He hit him could ah be about four first and he fall off the bucket on the ground. While he was shooting Richie my uncle say was that one boi and I stand up to run and when I go to run I block my head and he shoot me in my hand and two in my left leg and I fall down on my belly and fold up a way playing I dead on the ground and then he shoot my uncle after and he fall next to me on my right side and then he try to shoot him again and he shot me two graze behind my right leg and another one through my leg and my scrotom. After that he turn back to Richie and shot him some more and the last shot he buss hit a maxi glass and buss the front windscreen is a silver panel van and when he finish there he had turn to run to the road and then he run to the back of the house instead in the bush. My eye was closing down and when I ketch back myself I end up sending my father Ravi Bachoo two call me requests and he call me and I tell him I and meh uncle get shoot and I tell him come fast and he come real fast and the police reach the same time and the police end up carrying me in the hospital and I was knocking out and thing. When they did what they had to do in the Arima Hospital the police came back and I end up telling them what happen.

Q: How long is the garage where you all were sitting?

A: About ah twenty feet.

Q: Where was the van parked from where you all were sitting?

A: The van was ah ten feet from where we was sitting down. The van was in front of us and facing us and my uncle was sitting on my right side closer to the van and Richie was on the opposite side of us facing the van and the road. The right side of me and my uncle was facing the van.

Q: What were the lighting conditions at that point in time?

A: It was night. It doh have no street lights but it have a light over the front door of the house that was behind Richie where he was sitting, Is one ah the normal yellow bulb.

Q: After you heard the first three shots how long after did it take for you to see him?

A: After the first three shots he take about ah five seconds to run up in the yard and shoot Richie. He pass on the driver side of the van and that is when I first saw him when he reach in front the van he could ah be about ah 7 feet away at that time and I see the front of he body. I watch him for a two seconds at that time before I try to run. He about my size I slim but a lil more buff than me, he dark skin, he have a small beard nothing big, he could be about 5′7″ tall or 5′6″. He African descent, his voice was kind ah deep. He had on a baby blue polo jersey and he had on I dunno if it was a hat or hoodie same colour and he had on a dark pant but I eh notice the shoes. The last thing I see was when he was over Richie shooting him and then shoot the maxi and run off and that could be another five seconds and he gone. But the hoodie or hat he had on was covering up to his eyebrows but I see his face when he came into the light by us he have a round face. His jersey had the word “Polo” in silver in front it.

Q: Was anything obstructing your view?

A: No.

Q: How long did the entire incident take?

A: About a minute time.

Q: Prior to the incident on Monday, 25th October 2021, have you ever seen this person you spoke of?

A: No, is the first time I see him.

Q: Which hand did he have the firearm in?

A: When he ran up he had it in his right hand and when he start to shoot he had it in his both hands.

Q: Can you describe the firearm?

A: A black handgun. Is a kinda biggish nines and the amount of shots he buss it had a extended magazine.”

THE SECOND STATEMENT

7 Almost two months later, Zachary Cezair provided a second statement to the police on the 20th of December 2021. In this account, unlike his initial statement, he named the accused as the gunman and asserted that he had known him from the area for several months. He explained that he had withheld the name in his first statement because he was in the hospital, under heavy medication, and fearful for the safety of his family following threats allegedly made to his father and his child's mother. In this later statement, he described the shooter as a man he identified as “Seon” or “Six,” provided an address, and gave a physical description broadly consistent with the clothing and build of the assailant he had previously described. He also acknowledged that he recognised the man's face from a Facebook post he viewed two days after the shooting, and stated that he only then learned the name “Seon Nicholas” as it was attached to the photograph. It is against that backdrop of explanation, newly asserted recognition, and social-media exposure that the second statement was recorded as follows:

“Ah give ah first statement to the police about when they kill meh uncle Nyron Phillip, he partner Richie and when they shoot me, the man who do it is Seon they does call Six he live in Carapo, Simon Lane. The day the police take the statement from me ah was in the hospital and under real medication and thing. While ah was in the hospital somebody name Ashley tell meh father that they coming to shoot up the house if ah talk to the police and some days after meh child mother was walking on the road and some fellas in ah car pass and show she that they go shoot she. That is why now ah come to tell the police who do the shooting…

Q: What is Seon's correct name and address?

A: Seon Nicholas, he live in Carapo, Simon Lane.

Q: Does Seon Nicholas have an...