Murder Convicted, Malik Cox loses appeal at Privy Council

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, February 2, 2023 – Malik Cox will spend the rest of his life in prison following the Privy Council’s decision to quash his appeal.  Cox was convicted of killing Andreika Stubbs in a tragic 2016 incident outside the Versace Club in Providenciales.  Stubbs was shot in the crossfire between Cox and his intended target while out with her husband celebrating their wedding  anniversary.

Cox was found guilty in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison in the first jury-less case in the country by Judge Shiraz  Aziz. Cox appealed his conviction at the local level but the attempt also failed.

Cox had claimed that the evidence given against him by the man he was shooting at (then 17-year-old) Tyrone Smith and another man initially charged for the murder, Anthony Francis, was not credible or reliable and asked the Privy Council to reconsider the weight placed on their testimony.

Smith, who had been shot in the leg during the incident, gave two statements to the police only mentioning Cox in the second.  Francis on the other hand was found at the scene of the crime after chauffeuring Cox to the club with (what he said was) no idea of what Cox had planned.  Francis, who drove Cox from the scene said he only realized Malik had a gun halfway through the car ride.  Francis then found himself arrested and was further charged with Stubbs’ murder and the shooting of Smith.

Nearly a month later he signed a deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions which tossed out his murder charge in exchange for clarification on several aspects of the shooting. Giving his first statement under this agreement he named Mr. Cox as the gunman.

In reference to the appeal against the testimony of the two men, the Privy Council said:

“First, there was no evidence at all put forward by the defence.  Malik Cox gave a “no comment” interview and chose not to give evidence at trial.  Secondly, the evidence of the prosecution’s witnesses at trial was consistent as between one another.  In contrast to some trials, there was no conflict within the prosecution evidence given at trial.  Thirdly, Aziz J decided that both Anthony Francis and Tyrone Smith were credible and reliable witnesses independent of each other.  Even if the Board had decided (contrary to what we have actually decided) that Aziz J’s assessment had been unreasonable in respect of one of those two witnesses, there would still have been the evidence of the other which in itself, alongside the other evidence in the case, would have been sufficient to convict Malik Cox.”

Malik Cox will likely serve his sentence in the TCI.