Maitland says Donaldson left apartment after row

Constable Noel Maitland told the police that Donna-Lee Donaldson walked out of his Chelsea Manor apartment in July 2022 after an argument about a photo of his child’s mother on the wall and his threat to end their relationship a day before she went missing, according to a statement read on Tuesday in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston.

Maitland is on trial for Donaldson’s murder and for preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.

The statement, given to a then-sergeant (now retired) at the Half-Way Tree Police Station in St Andrew on July 15, 2022 – two days after Donaldson was reported missing – outlined Maitland’s account of their final hours together.

He said the dispute began after Donaldson saw the picture of his child’s mother, Kathanya Smith, and became upset.

“She always gets upset when she sees it. It’s not the first time she had seen it and she always tell me to take it down. I told her I couldn’t shun her because she has a child for me and I could leave her out of my life,” he said in the statement.

He continued: “She asked me if I was choosing Kathanya, and I told her I could not continue the relationship, because I could not shun the mother of my child.”

Maitland admitted to the police that he had been in an “on-and-off intimate relationship” with Donaldson since 2019, while also involved with Smith.

“Donna-Lee knew and continued still,” the statement said.

He recounted picking Donaldson up on July 11, stopping for banana chips at a gas station, then heading to his apartment, where they chatted before going to bed. The next morning, he woke around 8 or 9 a.m. to make breakfast, when she saw the photo and started an argument. He said they discussed the matter for some time before he ignored her and fell asleep.

According to him, when he awoke in the afternoon, Donaldson allegedly told him she was leaving.

Maitland said she left the apartment, and shortly after, he went downstairs to buy ice cream. He said he tried calling her around 7 p.m., but the call went straight to voicemail.

“I wasn’t concerned at the time because that’s how she behaves when she is upset, and I also messaged her through WhatsApp and got no response,” he told the police, adding that WhatsApp messages also went unanswered.

The next day, Maitland said he called Donaldson’s mother, Sophia Lugg, to try to reach her, his usual method when Donaldson was upset, but Lugg told him she had not returned home.

He also contacted Donaldson’s brother, Alex, and an overseas friend, both of whom said they had neither seen nor heard from her.

Maitland said he later spoke to a neighbour, who told him that while she was washing, she saw Donaldson standing by the steps, but did not see where she went afterwards.

He then went to the police station, where he saw Lugg and Alex.

Before reading Maitland’s statement, the retired sergeant told the court he had seen both Maitland and Smith on the station compound talking. As he approached them, he overheard Smith on the phone saying that she “nah gimme nuh statement”.

The witness, who described Maitland as very jovial, said they had a good working relationship.

Meanwhile, the investigating officer, a detective inspector, testified that on July 15, 2022, he made an application to the National Intelligence Bureau to place both Maitland and Smith on a watchlist, which would alert police if either attempted to leave the island. He clarified that being on a watchlist does not prevent travel.

He also said he applied to the police’s Information and Communication Technology Division to request JamaicaEye footage showing the movement of two motor vehicles, including a BMW.

The detective inspector added that he checked the Kingston Public Hospital for Donaldson, but found no trace of her.

The court heard that he spoke with Maitland’s neighbours and a security guard at the apartment complex, but did not obtain any useful information.

The detective inspector is expected to continue his evidence on Thursday.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com