A consultant forensic pathologist who examined the body of national senior women’s footballer Tarania “Plum Plum” Clarke in November 2019 said the then 20-year-old died from “haemorrhage and shock” from a stab wound to the chest which punctured a lung.
Clarke, a rising talent in the sporting arena, was stabbed and killed during a reported dispute with her friend Rushelle Foster over a cellular phone about 8:50 pm on October 31, 2019 at Limelight Plaza in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew.
A report from the expert read into the records of the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court — where the murder trial is unfolding before Justice Leighton Pusey and a seven-member jury — said Clarke received two stab wounds. It said the first, which was inflicted to the left upper anterior chest, penetrated the underlying tissues and perforated the upper lobe of the left lung. The expert said the second stab to the left mid-anterior abdomen penetrated underlying tissues and ended in the muscles of the lateral abdominal wall. The consultant forensic pathologist said haemorrhaging was seen in the tissue of the stab wound.
The report was one of several agreed documents entered into the records of the court on Friday, after which the Crown closed its case. The documents — which included the statement of the cousin who identified the body and the scenes of crime investigator who processed the murder scene — were agreed on by both the defence and prosecution, making it so that the material is accepted without those witnesses taking the stand.
On Friday Foster, clad in a white top and red skirt, sat attentively, unmoving except for the characteristic smoothing of her immaculate bobbed haircut with a well-manicured hand.
The matter resumes on Monday when Foster’s defence team, comprising attorneys Courtney Rowe and John Jacobs, will begin making their case.
When the trial began last Monday an eyewitness, who was the first to take the stand, told the court that on the evening in question there was an argument between the Reggae Girl and the accused. In that argument the witness said Foster accused Clarke of deliberately ignoring her calls. The witness said Clarke responded by saying her phone was acting up and that other individuals were also experiencing difficulties contacting her.
The witness said Foster, during the exchange, lunged forward and tried to grab the phone from Clarke, who pushed her hand away. She said Foster, at a point in the scuffle, brandished a knife and stabbed the footballer in her side.
The court was told that when Clarke gasped, “Yuh stab mi,” Foster reportedly said, “Mi wi do it again,” and stabbed her a second time. The witness then described for the court the frantic efforts to get help for the footballer, who was pronounced dead at hospital.
On Wednesday the investigator who probed the murder said Foster claimed ownership of the murder weapon but said she only had it on her person for “protection, based on where she lived” and had not meant to stab and kill her “close friend”. Under cross-examination by Rowe the sleuth said Foster denied being in an intimate relationship with Clarke, whom she said she knew since 2016.
