Drug addict confesses to raping, murdering boy, 9

Apr 09, 2015 News

A 22-year-old drug addict has reportedly told police that he abducted nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens, then bound, sodomised, mutilated and killed him in a desolate stretch of backlands in South Ruimveldt.

Dead: Nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens

The suspect, who is also from South Ruimveldt, then accompanied detectives back to the area where he had allegedly committed the crime.
According to police sources, the suspect claimed that he had seen Shaquan Gittens walking at night on Caneview Avenue, South Ruimveldt two Wednesdays ago.
He said that he walked near to the child and caused him to ‘trip’. After Gittens fell, the suspect said that he dragged him to an area, which is approximately half a mile from the nearest house in South Ruimveldt. He allegedly then tied the child’s hands and sodomized him.
The suspect alleged that he was choking the child while sexually assaulting him.
“He said the lil boy didn’t wake up so he dragged him under a tree and both of them slept there. The next morning (April 2nd) when he (the suspect) wake up, he notice the lil boy ain’t moving,” a police source said.
According to the police, the suspect said that he then sliced off his victim’s private part and sodomized him again, after which he dumped the lad’s motionless body in a trench.
Government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh yesterday gave
the cause of death as manual strangulation and drowning. There were also signs of sexual assault and the postmortem also confirmed that the child’s privates were missing. Kaieteur News understands that the

The suspect

suspect had provided graphic details about the murder, including the mutilation of his victim, before the postmortem was conducted.
Police suspect that the alleged killer knew his victim, since he habitually did odd jobs in South Ruimveldt.
Detectives said the suspect was arrested after a retired cop heard him repeatedly calling the child’s name on Tuesday night in South Ruimveldt.
The suspect was then taken to the East La Penitence Police Station where he confessed.
Some residents said that the alleged killer had served time in prison, but could not recall the nature of the offence for which he was convicted.
“He does be all over doing work for people. No one thought he would be capable of doing this,” a resident told this newspaper.
A distraught Doysha Gittens, who witnessed her son’s postmortem, said that some individuals said that the suspect was of unsound mind. She queried whether police indeed had her son’s killer, while adding that she would “be happy” if police had the right man in custody.
Shaquan Gittens’ bloated body, minus his trousers, was found in the trench around 15:35 hrs last Saturday, three days after he was reported missing. A strip of cloth was seen hanging from both hands when the body was pulled from the trench.
The mother had explained that on April 01, last, she left her son in the care of his 15-year-old brother and went to work.
She returned home later that day and did not see the lad, and was told that he had left to go on the streets and play.
According to the woman, her neighbours had informed her that they had seen the youngster flying a kite.
Mrs. Gittens said that after he failed to return, she went out into the community and searched for him since it was unusual for him to stay out late at nights.
The following day, she made a missing person report and shared flyers.