Leoda Bradshaw, the woman accused of orchestrating one of Jamaica’s most disturbing ongoing murder cases, appeared before the court this week over an alleged assault incident while in custody.
The St Catherine Parish Court heard on Tuesday that Bradshaw was reportedly attacked inside the Bridgeport lock-up in Portmore, where she remains in custody for the alleged murders of Parliamentarian Phillip Paulwell’s daughter and the infant’s mother.
According to reports, Bradshaw incident involved another female inmate, whom Bradshaw said physically assaulted her. The matter was mentioned before Judge Venise Blackstock-Murray after Bradshaw reported the incident. The case was ultimately postponed due to the absence of legal representatives, and the new date was scheduled for January 23.
Bradshaw is being held for the 2023 killings of a mother and her 10-month-old baby. The victims, Toshyna Patterson and daughter, Sarayah Paulwell, are the baby’s mother and the daughter of People’s National Party Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell, respectively.
Bradshaw previously served as a culinary specialist in the United States Navy and is the mother of a child she shares with Paulwell. She is now facing a slate of serious charges, including two counts each of capital murder, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to kidnap. According to prosecutors, she is believed to have been the driving force behind the planning of the deadly attack.
Court records indicate that Patterson and her baby were first abducted from their home and then killed. The victims lived on Gilmour Drive in St Andrew. They were taken from the property on September 9, 2023, and brought to East Kingston, where they were killed. The burnt bodies were later discovered. The gruesome nature of the allegations has kept the case firmly in the public eye since Bradshaw was charged.
Tuesday’s court appearance did not involve any discussion of the murder case itself. Despite the assault complaint, she remains in custody as the criminal proceedings against her continue.
A trial window for the murder case has been tentatively set between September 26 and November 23.