11 murder accused requesting early trials-DPP

Oct 03, 2019 News

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The jail delivery for the Georgetown Prison assizes shows that 261 male prisoners are awaiting trial as at October. Eleven murder accused are requesting an early trial, according to information released by the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The October session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes opened on Tuesday. A total of 322 cases are listed to be heard by three judges.

Of the 11 prisoners, 22-year-old Sherwin Nero is the youngest. While records show that Nero was found not guilty of the August 30, 2007 murder of businessman Kumar Singh, called ‘Mango Man’, it is unclear what other murder charge he is yet to be indicted for.
Nero was committed to stand trial for the murder charge since April 28, 2010. Deonauth Ketwaru, 27, Toney Thomas, also 27, and Michael Lewis, 37, are also requesting an early trial. They were committed to stand trial on May 22, 2015. It is alleged that between April 5, 2014 and April 9, 2014 they murdered businessman Rajendra Singh. They have been jointly charged with another man, Adony James.
According to reports, Singh, a spare parts auto dealer was kidnapped by two gunmen on April 5, 2014 at his Foulis, East Coast Demerara business place. His kidnappers had demanded a ransom of $50M from his family, but they later reduced that amount by half. The ransom was never paid.
Subsequently, Singh’s car was found abandoned in Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara by his wife. Still hopeful that her husband might return home, the wife got news of her husband’s lifeless body being fou

nd in an isolated part of Le Repentir Cemetery. Singh was discovered with his mouth and nose tied with a jersey. His hands were bound with what appeared to be a belt. He was stuffed in an alcove created by some fallen trees.
Also on the list requesting an early trial are Lennox Wayne, called ‘Two Colours’ and Melroy Doris, who are accused of the July 10, 2014 murder of Lusignan, East Bank Demerara cosmetologist, Ashmini Harriram. Both murder accused have been listed for a retrial since their initial trial ended in a hung jury. Based on reports, Harriram was shot once to the neck moments after she disembarked a minibus along the Lusignan Railway, Embankment, East Coast Demerara.
On the day of the incident, the shooter reportedly exited a burgundy-coloured motorcar, whipped out a gun, shot the teen, then took away her cell phone and fled. Wayne and Doris, a taxi driver, were subsequently arrested and charged with the capital offence. Doris was committed to stand trial for the woman’s murder in 2015, while Wayne was committed the following year.
Regan Rodrigues, 39, also known as ‘Grey Boy’ who is accused of the March 10, 2015 murder of political activist, Courtney Crum-Ewing, is also seeking an early trial. According to reports, the bullet-riddled body of Crum-Ewing was found at Third Avenue, Diamond, East Bank Demerara on March 10, 2015. The 40-year-old was shot twice to the temple, once to the back of the head and twice to the stomach.

The police, in a statement, had said that the political activist was accosted by four men in a car. One of them discharged several rounds, hitting him about the body. It was reported that the killer(s) used a .32 pistol to execute Crum-Ewing. The political activist was well known for his one-man protest outside the office of former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
Minutes before he was gunned down, he was reportedly heard via bullhorn urging residents of the neighbourhood to vote against then ruling PPP/C.
Former police sergeant Colin Bailey, 52, along with his co-accused Colin Grant, 32, are requesting to be tried early for the murder of Bailey’s reputed wife, Sirmattie Ramnaress. It is alleged that between August 30 and August 31, 2013 at Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, Bailey and Grant murdered Ramnaress.
According to reports, the body of 36-year-old Ramnaress was found lying face down in the garage of her home on August 31, 2013. It was a blaze coming from the woman’s home that led firefighters to a bond, when they stumbled upon her body.
Her body reportedly bore two stab wounds- one to the neck and another to the hip. The police, in a statement had said that Ramnaress’s house was ransacked and drenched with a flammable liquid, and a storage bond at the rear of the building was destroyed by fire. A post mortem examination performed on her remains revealed that she died as a result of a ruptured spleen and brain haemorrhaging.
Police charged Grant, who was Ramnaress’s neighbour in 2015. Bailey was charged the following year. Of these 11 inmates, only Rodrigues and Nero have received their depositions, a statement by the DPP chambers said.

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