Patentia Schoolboy murder… Victim died from shock and haemorrhage due to gunshot injury - Gov’t Pathologist

Patentia Schoolboy murder… Victim died from shock and haemorrhage due to gunshot injury – Gov’t Pathologist

Sep 16, 2014 News

Prosecution witness, State Pathologist Dr. Vivekananda Bridgemohan told the court, yesterday that murdered schoolboy

Kelvin Fraser

Kelvin Fraser died from shock and haemorrhage due to the gunshot injury he sustained close to his collar bone.
The Pathologist recalled the post mortem examination he had performed on the body of the slain schoolboy after he was called to the stand by State Prosecutor, Diana Kaulesar.
Fraser was allegedly shot and killed by Police Constable, Quancy John on June 7, 2010.
The incident took place in the vicinity of the Patentia Secondary School, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
John of Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, is currently on trial before Justice Franklyn holder and a mixed 12- member jury at the High Court.
He was interdicted and charged with murder several weeks after the incident occurred.
It is said that Constable John, who was attached to the Wales Police Station, WBD, was on patrol with other ranks, when they responded to a report that a group of schoolboys were smoking what was suspected to be marijuana in the vicinity of the school.
The students, who were dressed in casual clothing, reportedly ran helter-skelter upon seeing the policemen. John, who was armed with a shotgun, is said to have fatally shot one of the schoolboys in a bid to capture him.
Yesterday, Dr. Bridgemohan told the court that based on examinations the victim was shot at close range and died almost instantly.
According to Bridgemohan, the muzzle of the gun had to have been pointing downwards “almost vertically,” for the teenager to sustain the sort of wound he found.
The doctor also noted that the victim could have been bending over or in a kneeling position when he was shot.
The wound, which Dr. Bridgemohan examined, is said to have been close to the victim’s collar bone.
According to the witness, the pellets which entered Fraser’s body damaged his lung and several of his internal organs. He noted too that there were abrasions near the gunshot wound.
Dr. Bridgemohan later agreed to a suggestion by Defence Counsel Glen Hanoman, that the abrasions could have been caused by a blunt object or by the heated metal muzzle of the shotgun.
Two more witnesses are scheduled to testify on the matter, which will continue today.
Witnesses, who have already testified in the matter, include Head teacher of Patentia Secondary School Gloria Gobin, a former student of the school, Prem Seecharan, the victim’s grandfather Leslie Fraser, former policeman, Ranwick Jack-Smith, Police Inspector Corrine Marshall, Police Detective Elson Baird and Deputy Superintendant, Linden Lord.
Last Thursday, Police Detective Elson Baird told the court that officer John had claimed that the youth was shot during a struggle over the shotgun.
According to the police witness, John had claimed that the schoolboy grabbed the shotgun and a fight ensued; it was during this time that the firearm went off fatally injuring the teen.
Subsequently in his evidence, Deputy Superintendant Lord told the court that he was not privy to the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before charging the accused with murder.