Latest update April 7th, 2025 12:08 AM
Witness unable to identify men who escaped after Sophia bread vendor was shot
Prosecution witness Paulburn David said he was unable to make out the facial features of two men, both of
Killed: Andre Alexander
whom hopped onto a motorcycle and made good their escape, after 42-year-old Sophia bread vendor Andre Alexander was robbed and shot.
David was called to testify earlier this week when the trial of Shaquille Grant and Neville Forde, who are charged with the May 5, 2017 murder of Alexander, continued at the High Court in Demerara.
Testifying before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury, David explained that he lived in close proximity to the stand where Alexander, popularly called ‘Bread Man’, sold bread. He added that he and Alexander attended the same school. According to him, on the night in question, he was at home watching television when he heard two explosive sounds. Curious about what was happening, David said he peeped outside where he noticed a man sitting on a “CG-type motorcycle”.
The witness said that seconds after, another man ran and jumped onto the motorcycle and they rode off.
Questioned by State Prosecutor Teriq Mohamed as to whether he was able to identify either of the men’s facial features, David replied in the negative, but said that they were not wearing masks. He said, too, that one of them was “slim built.” The witness recalled that the men wore dark-coloured clothing and that the motorcycle was probably black or dark blue.
Another prosecution witness, O’Neil Bovell, a bus driver, also of Sophia, said that on May 5, 2017, he was driving out of the community in his minibus when he was stopped by a group of people who told him that somebody had just been shot. He said that persons placed Alexander, whom he knows, inside of the bus, and he transported him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He said that while on the way to the hospital, Alexander complained of “feeling weak.”
According to previous reports, Alexander of Lot 394 ‘C’ Field Sophia died during surgery. He was attacked by two men on a motorcycle at his bread stand which is situated about four doors from his home. Police said that two men rode up on a motorcycle and the pillion rider requested three loaves of bread. He then paid with a $5000 note. While Alexander was in the process of making change, the ‘customer’ whipped out a gun and demanded cash. When Alexander put up a fight, the robber discharged two rounds, one of which struck the vendor in the abdomen. The two men then relieved him of his cash and also escaped with three loaves of bread.
The trial continues on Monday.
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