Ninjaman Guilty Of Murder and Shooting with Intent

Dancehall artiste Ninjaman has been found guilty of murder, this monday afternoon, in the Supreme Court.Ninja Man has also been convicted of shooting with intent. 

Ninjaman, whose given name is Desmond Ballentine, was charged  along with his son Jahneil with the March 2009 murder of Ricardo Johnson, also known as Trooper, on Marl Road in Kingston. 

The dancehall deejay, who was granted bail in 2012, was taken into custody four weeks ago after his bail was revoked by High Court judge Justice Martin Gayle, who ordered that the murder trial should begin immediately. 

The case had seen 17 trial dates and 23 mentions, and was recently transferred to a special court that handles cases on the books for more than five years.Justice Gayle had revoked Ninja Man’s bail and he was taken into custody for the duration of the trial. A seven-member jury comprising four men and three women handed down the verdict in Home Circuit Court in Kingston after three hours and 11 minutes of deliberation. Ninja Man and his co-accused had been on trial for the five weeks in a hearing that was closed to the public because it is a gun matter

Hailing from the parish of St Mary, Ninjaman came to prominence in the 1980s. He is known for songs including Artical Don, Border Clash, and Cover Me featuring Tinga Stewart.

The deejay also had a major role in the local action movie Third World Cop in 1999.Ninjaman had been doing a lot for the community, "a good man to people overall and he has been doing a lot of charitable work in the community, helping people to go back to school, I mean it’s a lot of things Ninjaman has been doing." said dancehall Artist D'Angel.

"A suh it go man," Ninja Man said as he and his co-accused were led away in handcuffs.

As he boarded a police vehicle to be taken to prison, he would make another utterance.

"Don't worry yuhself, Jamaica, I'll be back," Ninja Man said.

He and his co-accused are to be sentenced on December 15.

Dancehall artiste Kiprich admitted that he was "in shock" at the outcome.

"Da one ya mash mi up, mi never expect this, he tried his best to turn his life around, I was just hoping that the system saw the new Ninja, but I don't know what went down. Right now, mi inna shock, mi never expect a guilty verdict, because him say him innocent right through the trial,"

"This is a dark day for dancehall, for a legend to do any form of sentence, especially at his age, is really hard. It no mek no sense, worse he has a heart condition. it is not a good look. Ninjaman had been doing a lot of community events, and charity shows, and he did a lot of things on social media encouraging the youths to stop do crime, so for this to happen, it hard fi deal wid," Kiprich continued.

"Ah mi bredrin, it hurt me say dem find him guilty, but mi can't do nothing. Everybody did a pray fi dem find him 'not guilty', but ah wah the court say, no one is above the law..this is just a dark day fi Ninjaman and his family," Nitty Kutchie said. 

Dancehall artiste Ninja Kidd, known for songs like 'Request the Long Ting', lamented the fact that Ninjaman's advanced age and heart condition made a possible life imprisonment sentence essentially a "death sentence" for his mentor. 

"Ninjaman ah big man, plus him have a heart condition, him no have no years, him nuffi de nowhere de so, mi no wish that pon no man," he said.

"Ninjaman is an icon, ah dem man de mek me name Ninja Kidd because when him and Shabba clash at Sting, mi say anyone ah dem win, ah so mi a go rename myself from Jukie Don, and Ninjaman win and the rest is history, him accept me as hi son. So right now, this really hurt me fi know say him no have the years fi serve this sentence that ah come up."

"He was one of the greatest dancehall artistes of all time. But now, he just a next ghetto youth who fall to the system. We have to be careful of the energy we push out in the universe, what you push out is sometimes what yu get back, and words are very powerful because in the beginning was the word...,but Ninjaman is a God-fearing youth and him and God will work it out, God see and know everything." Mr Vegas said."he deserves to be involved in any discussion of the G.O.A.T in the realm of dancehall." Mr Vegas lauded The Gorgon.

Singer J a recording artist, had a meltdown on social media Monday following the news of Ninjaman’s guilty verdict.He took to Facebook to go live, crying about the devastating outcome of Ninja’s murder trial.

Singer J, bemoaned that "the Gorgon" was used by the government before he was given the harsh verdict. He went on to say that Ninjaman is well known for his charitable work within the inner city communities and with him going to prison, people he was helping will now suffer.

Sources close to the dancehall legend told have claimed that the Don Gorgon plans to appeal the conviction. “The Gorgon (Ninjaman) ago appeal this injustice,” sources said. “They have this case hanging over the man head for almost ten years and now they want to send him to prison for a crime he never did.”