Vybz Kartel is a free man. On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Jamaica’s Court of Appeal ruled that the dancehall star and his three co-accused will not be retried for the 2011 killing of Clive “Lizard” Williams, and formally acquitted them. Kartel, born Adidja Palmer, walked out of the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in downtown Kingston that evening, the Jamaica Observer reports, after 13 years in custody.

The three-judge panel — Justices Marva McDonald-Bishop, Paulette Williams and David Fraser — weighed what McDonald-Bishop called the “egregious nature and seriousness of the offence” against the passage of time, the lack of access to witnesses and evidence, the cost of a new trial and Kartel’s “declining health,” according to the BBC. “We conclude that the interests of justice do not require a new trial,” she said. The full judgment is to be published at courtofappeal.gov.jm.

Outside the court in downtown Kingston, fans broke through barriers to mob defence attorney Isat Buchanan as he emerged, chanting “Free Worl’ Boss.”

How the case unravelled

Kartel, Shawn “Shawn Storm” Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John were convicted in March 2014, after a trial of more than two months. Prosecutors said Williams had been entrusted with two of Kartel’s unlicensed firearms, failed to return them, was summoned to Kartel’s house in 2011 and was beaten to death. His body has never been found. The four were sentenced to life; Kartel was told he would serve at least 35 years before parole. They have always maintained their innocence.

Jamaica’s Court of Appeal upheld the convictions in 2020. The case then went to the Privy Council in London, Jamaica’s final court of appeal, which on March 14, 2024 quashed the convictions. The defence had argued that a juror accused of trying to bribe fellow jurors should have been removed; the trial judge let the trial continue. The Privy Council found that decision “fatal to the safety of the convictions which followed” and an infringement of the defendants’ right to a fair hearing, and sent the question of a retrial back to Kingston.

‘A mammoth day for dancehall’

Kartel was the dominant figure in dancehall when he was arrested in 2011, with “Clarks,” “Romping Shop” and “Summer Time” among his signatures and collaborations with Rihanna, Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. He kept releasing music throughout his imprisonment. “He’s easily one of the biggest dancehall artists in Jamaica,” BBC 1Xtra’s Seani B said. “There’s a whole new generation of dancehall fans that are just waiting for Vybz Kartel’s return to that music.” Seani B also urged listeners to remember Williams’ family.

The timing is not lost on anyone in Jamaica: the ruling came on the eve of Emancipation Day.

Listen and dig deeper

Sources: Jamaica Observer — “Kartel freed!” and “WATCH: Vybz Kartel walks free from prison after 13 years” (July 31, 2024); BBC Newsbeat — “Vybz Kartel freed after murder conviction overturned” (Aug 1, 2024); Rolling Stone — “Vybz Kartel Freed After Appeals Court Declines to Retry Murder Charges” (July 31, 2024).

Editor’s note: This story is part of an archive backfill covering Jamaican music news from 2022 to 2026. It is dated to the events it reports.