After more than a decade under scrutiny, Tristan Francis walked out of the High Court a free man on Wednesday, as the Crown Prosecution officially withdrew the case against him in the 2011 murder of Alicia Hunte, a 22-year-old former Saint Lucia Carnival Queen contestant.
Francis had been charged with Hunte’s murder on May 18, 2011, after she was found dead in her Trouya home with multiple stab wounds. A post-mortem examination determined her cause of death as hemorrhagic shock secondary to multiple stab wounds.
The decision to withdraw the case came just before the trial was scheduled to begin. A jury had already been impaneled. However, the prosecution filed a formal discontinuance after key legal rulings on evidence admissibility.
Isa Cyril, one of Francis’ defense attorneys, explained the development to The Saint Lucia Daily Post outside the courtroom. “We made several applications regarding evidence and its admissibility. Based on those successful applications, the DPP, in his wisdom, decided to withdraw the matter,” Cyril stated.
Among the evidence excluded from the proceedings was a critical witness statement, which reportedly influenced the prosecution’s decision to discontinue the case. Francis’ second attorney, Alberton Richelieu, described the outcome as a “decision taken in the interest of justice.” “We have to say that, because in my opinion, the evidence was not there,” Cyril added.
The case file included over 20 witness statements, but the exclusion of the key testimony undermined the prosecution’s position.
Francis had previously faced trial in 2022, which ended in a hung jury after six hours of deliberations. He had been released on bail in 2018.
The family of Alicia Hunte expressed disappointment and frustration at the court’s decision. “This thing is hurting so much,” said a relative who spoke under condition of anonymity. “But this definitely is an injustice to Alicia.”
The relative emphasized that the family still supports the efforts of the Director of Public Prosecutions, stating, “I cannot blame the DPP, he went all out for us… The family continues to suffer, and only we know what we are going through because the system has failed us. It has failed Alicia.”
Francis and his family declined to comment on the court’s ruling.
