Caribbean National And ‘Most Wanted Fugitive’ Pleads Not Guilty In Court Appearance

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Feb. 18, 2020 – UPDATED: A Caribbean national who was captured in Jamaica after being on the U.S. Marshal’s ‘15 Most Wanted Fugitives’ list for more than a year and a half and appeared in a U.S. court today to answer murder charges pleaded not guilty.

Jamaican Leroy Headley, who was returned to South Burlington, Vermont Saturday, more than a year and a half after fleeing authorities in connection with the murder of his then girlfriend and former nurse, Anako ‘Annette’ Lumumba in May 2018, entered the ‘not guilty’ plea as  he walked into court Tuesday to face Lumumba’s family for the first time since her murder.

Headley will now be held without bail and is expected back in court in a few weeks. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years to life behind bars.

Police say Lumumba was shot and killed by Headley in her South Burlington home in May 2018, leaving behind three children – two of them with Headley Headley then fled Vermont following the shooting, and was last known to be in Albany, New York, where he apparently dropped his car and the gun used in the homicide.

Headley was captured in Negril, Jamaica on Feb. 5, 2020.

He also had a second arrest warrant on a sexual assault allegation with a child under age 16.

The U.S. Marshal Service says it “worked tirelessly and leveraged all available resources” to bring Headley back to Vermont.