Teen’s body found on dam with crushed skull

Mar 06, 2014 News

– police looking for truck driver

Police on the East Coast of Demerara are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 14-year-old street child whose mangled body was discovered on a dam aback of Foulis Village around 06:30 hours yesterday morning.

The dead teen was only identified as Andy

Residents awoke to the shocking discovery of the body of the orphaned teenager who is only known as Andy, with his skull crushed.
The teen, who does odd jobs around the community, was last seen alive on Tuesday night.
It is believed that he was run over by a truck, since according to residents, he had recently resorted to sleeping under the vehicle, ever since he ran away from his uncle’s home a few months ago.
Initially police were treating the matter as a murder and were of the impression that Andy was killed somewhere else and dumped at the back of the village, since there were no signs of blood or a struggle near the body that would suggest otherwise.
They were also provided with information that Andy was seen being beaten by some residents who accused him of stealing from them.
Another youth who is usually seen with Andy around the village led police to a resident who admitted that he had confronted the teenager on Tuesday night over the theft of a thousand dollars and a pair of slippers.
“He cousin hold he up since bout seven o’clock last night…he tief thousand dollar and a slipper from dem,” the youth said.
There were also reports that Andy was threatened with harm by persons who had accused him of stealing ducks in the community.

Curious residents take a peek at the body to assist with identifying him.

Police detained the resident but released him after they received new information about the truck.
According to a source close to the investigation, residents provided information that Andy would normally sleep under the truck and they are almost convinced that he was crushed when the vehicle moved off.
What appeared to be tyre marks on the body have added fuel to their suspicions.
However, there are still several questions that are lingering in the minds of residents.
“How come de truck driver nah feel he run over something and chek fuh see is wha?” one resident asked.
“And how come he nah wake up when de truck start up?” was another question.
Residents also want to know if the driver of the truck did not know that Andy had been sleeping there for the past few weeks.
The police’s interest in the truck operator, who up to late last night had not turned himself in, stems from conflicting reports they received about the time he left the area with the vehicle.
A relative of the truck driver had told investigators that he had left since 23:00 hours on Tuesday night to go to the sandpits on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
But a neighbour reportedly said that the truck departed at around 05:00 hours yesterday.
The dead teen’s aunt Ramrattie Ronie, told this newspaper that he had been living with them at their 19th Street, Foulis home since his mother died a few years ago.

Ramrattie Ronie gives information to detectives as they prepare to examine the dead teen’s body.

She said that Andy never had a birth certificate and she does not know who his father is.
According to Ronie, Andy left their home early January and went to live in another village further down the Coast, and efforts to bring him back home failed initially.
“When me try fuh get he, he run and go away from me. But two weeks later when he friend come back in de village, me see am back and he deh pon de road. He never register and he never had a birth certificate,” Ronie told Kaieteur News.
She said that on Tuesday afternoon, a young woman took Andy to her home after an allegation was made against him by another villager.
Ronie said that after her confrontation with Andy, he left and went away and when next she saw him, he was lying dead on the parapet at the back of the village.