Durban Backlands murder…

Jul 27, 2008 News

One year later, relatives still waiting for justice

It has been one year since the nude body of 25-year-old hairdresser Iesha Byron was found in a clump of bushes at D’Urban Backlands, and her relatives are still waiting for her killer to be brought to justice.

Byron, of 617 East Ruimveldt, was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds on July 17, 2007. She was identified the following day by her mother and other relatives as her body lay at the Lyken Funeral Parlour.

Relatives gave some clarity as to the motive of the heinous crime, but the most shocking discovery was that the prime suspect in the killing is someone with whom the victim grew and knew as a brother.

Investigators made a breakthrough in the case after relatives informed them that, on the night that Byron was shot and killed, the suspect, Oswald Pollard, called ‘Ossie,’ picked the victim up from her home and took her out.

Pollard had the same features as the man described by eyewitnesses who saw Byron being led into a bushy area in D’Urban Backlands the night before she was discovered dead.

Persons living close to the crime scene said that on the night of July 16, 2007, a man accompanied the now dead woman into the bushes at around 10:45 hours, and some one hour later three gunshots were fired.

Then the man ran out of the bushes and fled on a bicycle. The suspect was said to be a Rastafarian.

After hearing the gunshots, residents called the police, who searched the area but did not find the body until the next morning.

After identifying her, relatives explained to detectives the relationship between the suspect, Oswald Pollard, and the victim.

They said that Pollard’s mother has three children with Byron’s father. Pollard, 30, is not one of the three, but grew up with the victim and his other siblings.

Relatives were certain that it was Pollard who committed the crime. Confirming their suspicions is the fact that Pollard has not been seen since the night he picked up Byron from her home.

On the night of the murder, Pollard, who lives in the same building that Byron did, reportedly went into his apartment and took some of his clothes and left. He hasn’t been seen since. Relatives are still trying to fathom the motive for such a brutal killing.

Byron’s sister, Iana, told Kaieteur News yesterday that rumours are that Pollard has been held in French Guiana. However, local police were not able to confirm this. Iana said she hopes that soon Pollard will pay for what he did to her sister.

According to her, Even if he is in prison for a crime in French Guiana, she wants the police here to get their hands on him when he’s freed, so that he can be prosecuted for her sister’s murder.

Iana noted that an entire year has passed and Byron’s relatives are waiting to get justice. Several murder victims’ bodies have been discovered at D’Urban Backlands over the years.

On March 12 last year, Devon Cambridge, an 18-year-old from Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, was found in a trench in D’Urban Backlands. His hands were bound behind his back and his body bore several gunshot wounds.
Byron had two children — a three-year-old and a four-year-old.