Vagrant murder PI begins…Six witnesses testify

Feb 19, 2020 News

The preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder of Andrew Benjamin who was found with stab wounds to his neck on November 11, 2019, commence in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, yesterday.
The defendant, 24-year-old Devon Johnson of Cummings Street, Bourda, Georgetown, was deemed fit to stand trial earlier this month for two counts of murder.
Yesterday when the matter was called, Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers called six witnesses to testify. The witnesses that testified were Sergeant Orlan Alleyne; Constable Adosafi Felix, Corporal Dwayne Harvey; Lance Corporal Persaud, the mother of the deceased, Elaine Benjamin, and her daughter, Simone Adonis.
After the witnesses testified the defendant who is unrepresented declined to cross-examine them. The PI is scheduled to continue today, when the prosecutor is expected to call more witnesses to testify.
Johnson made his first court appearance on December 4, 2019, before the Chief Magistrate when the two indictable charges were read to him.
The first charge stated that on November 11, 2019, at Regent Street, Georgetown, he murdered Andrew Benjamin. The second charge alleges that on the same date, and at the same location, he murdered Raymond Samaroo.
However, according to advice from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), two separate preliminary inquiries should be conducted for the killing of Benjamin and Samaroo both of whom were killed on the same date, just hours apart.
According to information, on the day in question around 02:30hrs, Benjamin was asleep on the pavement when a male individual, who was armed with a knife, approached him and dealt him several stab wounds about his body before making good his escape.
Benjamin was discovered lying in a pool of blood at the junction of Regent and Light Streets, Georgetown.
Later that day, about 21:30hrs, Samaroo was standing on the pavement by Household Plus when a man approached him, whipped out a knife and dealt him several stabs before making good his escape.
When Johnson was revealed as the suspect, he was arrested; there were reports of him being mentally unsound. However, based on advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions, the defendant was charged for murder.

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