Murder trial continues with 11-person jury after juror dies in crash

Bryan Roy Welcome’s murder trial continued Tuesday with just 11 jurors after a jury member died in a crash over the weekend.

The court did not reveal the details of the accident.

The jury, which had not been seated for the previous two weeks, also was not required to sit on Monday due to heavy rains and flooding. When they returned to the Grand Court on Tuesday, Justice Marlene Carter asked them whether the death of their fellow juror might affect their ability to concentrate on the case.

“One of you… had an accident on Sunday evening and is already dead. My sympathy for you. This was someone who was part of your group, the jury, and I am fully aware that these things may be on your minds,” Carter told jurors.

When the jury of nine women and two men responded that they were willing and able to continue with the trial, Carter briefly excused them to speak to a lawyer. They were then called back and told the case would resume the following Tuesday, after the upcoming holiday weekend.

Welcome is accused of driving up and killing his informal business partner during a heated argument that turned physical.

Welcome, 42, of Bodden Town, faces a single count of murder, which he denies, in connection with the July 2023 killing of Omar Ryan, 34, a Jamaican national living on the North Side.

Ryan died after being hit by an SUV on Robert Foster Drive near the George Town Yacht Club shortly after 8:20 p.m. on July 8.