6 charged with murder, 1 with manslaughter

Jan 16, 2022 News

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2022 Magistrate’s court proceedings…

By Renay Sambach

Kaieteur News – A total of seven defendants have been brought before the court for the year so far. Six men were charged with the capital offence of murder while one was charged with manslaughter.

Those defendants are: 24-year-old Judah Vickery called ‘Culture’, a taxi driver of Bella Dam Pouderoyen Squatting Area, West Bank Demerara; 25-year-old Darren Baley called ‘Fifty’, a weeder of 3091 Recht-Door-Zee, Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara; 19-year-old Ezekiel Hawker, called ‘Alpha’ of Forshaw Street, Queenstown, Georgetown; 31-year-old father of two, Mickel Forde of Critchlow Street, Tucville, Georgetown; 21-year-old Elith Osorio Dominguez, a Venezuelan national of Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela; Kurtland Damon called ‘Carto” of Pomeroon, Region Two and Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and police Constable, Sherwin Peters, 32, of 1869 Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden.
‘Murder’ of Martial Arts Sensei
On January 3, 2022, Vickery and Baley were remanded to prison for the alleged ‘murder’ of Martial Arts Sensei, Garfield Newton, 36—a bodyguard attached to the Beharry Group of Companies.

The defendants made their first court appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan. They were not required to plead to the indictable charge, which alleges that on December 24, 2021, at Campbell Street, Albouystown, they murdered Newton during the course or furtherance of a robbery.
Baley and Vickery were remanded to prison and the matter was adjourned to January 26, 2022.According to reports, Newton was shot dead during the course of a robbery just about 22:00hrs Christmas Eve night. The police had reported that moments before Newton was killed, he visited a goldsmith in the Campbell Street area, where he collected a silver hand band, a gold chain and two gold rings, which he had taken to be cleaned earlier.
It was while heading back to his company’s vehicle, which was parked on Sussex Street that the fatal incident occurred. The court heard that Newton was armed with a 9mm handgun along with 30 live rounds of ammunition.

While making his way in a northerly direction, he was approached by Baley and others, who allegedly robbed and shot him to his chest, before relieving him of the firearm that he was carrying. After committing the offence, Baley and others then escaped in a car which was being driven by Vickery.
Kaieteur News had reported that the goldsmith told police that about five minutes after Newton left to go to his vehicle, a teenager came and informed him that the person (Newton) who came to collect the jewellery was shot and lying on the street. Immediately after hearing this, the goldsmith reportedly went out to the street and saw Newton lying motionless.
Emergency Medical Technicians, who were summoned to the scene, pronounced Newton dead there. An investigation was launched and the police arrested two suspects in relation to the murder. They later issued a wanted bulletin for a teen in relation to the said murder.

Christmas Eve execution in Albouystown
Moments after that matter was called, a matter involving 19-year-old Ezekiel Hawker, called ‘Alpha’ and Mickel Forde, was called before the Chief Magistrate.
Hawker and Forde were charged with the capital offence of murder. It is alleged that they executed 28-year-old Deon Charles on Christmas Eve night in Albouystown.
They were not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleges that on December 24, 2021 at James Street, Albouystown, they murdered Charles.
It was reported that Charles of Middle Road, La Penitence was killed out of revenge.

Police reports stated that sometime around 23:50hrs that day, Charles was standing on James Street, when a white Axio motorcar came from an easterly direction and stopped in front of him. Investigators had revealed that two men exited the car and approached Charles, after which a loud explosion, suspected to be a gunshot, was heard.
Charles subsequently fell to the ground while the men re-entered the car and drove away. Charles, who died on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, was shot to the left side of his head.
The investigation into his death led to the arrest of Hawker, and Forde, who was said to be the driver of the motorcar.
Forde was arrested at his home on Boxing Day, while Hawker was apprehended in Suriname while trying to evade police.
In his confession to investigators, Hawker told them that he committed the crime because Charles had allegedly shot at him in the past on two occasions.
Chief Magistrate McLennan after remanding Hawker and Forde to prison adjourned the matter to January 27, 2022.Venezuelan who killed friend with a piece of wood
On January 7, 2022, a Venezuelan man who allegedly killed his friend with a piece of wood on New Year’s Day, during a row about ‘owed gold’ was remanded to prison for the offence.

The defendant, Elith Osorio Dominguez, 21, of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, was charged with the murder of Animal Sonja, 51, at Arau Mountain Top located in the Cuyuni district of Region Seven.

He appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, before Principal Magistrate, Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus and was not required to plea to the indictable charge.
The Magistrate remanded him to prison and he is scheduled to make his next court appearance on March 14, 2022.
According to reports, Dominguez and Sonja were friends and had arrived at Arau sometime back, to work in the mine there. Their friendship reportedly soured over a quantity of raw gold that Dominguez reportedly owed the victim. On Old Year’s night, Dominguez had gone over to his sister’s camp to welcome the New Year with a celebration.
Sonja was present too but the festivities soon came to an abrupt end around 02:45hrs New Year’s Day, after an argument reportedly broke out between the suspect and the victim over the owed gold.

The row reportedly turned violent after Dominguez allegedly found a piece of wood and lashed Sonja to his head.
Sonja reportedly fell to the ground and remained still while Dominguez allegedly ran away. Sonja was later pronounced dead by a medical professional, and police were able to apprehend Dominguez later that day in Kaikan—a village close to the Arau Mountain top.

Christmas Eve hinterland killings
On Monday, January 10, 2022, one of the suspects in the hinterland killings that took place last Christmas Eve was charged for the offence and remanded.
The suspect, Kurtland Damon through his lawyer, told the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts that he had nothing to do with the murders.
According to reports, Sherwin Goddette and Shawn France, are the two miners who were brutally stabbed to death along a trail heading to their camps located in the Nassano Backdam, North West District, Region One.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) later issued two wanted bulletins for Damon and Thomas Kyte, aka “Taco”.
Kyte had turned himself into police and detectives arrested Damon sometime later. Both Damon and Kyte were interrogated but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali Hack, SC, had advised that only one of them be charged with murder and that suspect was Damon. Kyte was released on bail while Damon was placed before the court to face the murder charge.
Damon appeared before Chief Magistrate McLennan in the company of his lawyer. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleges that on December 24, 2021, he murdered the two miners.

According to Damon’s version of the events, he was knocked unconscious during a bar fight and had recovered from that state lying next to his injured son, Devor Sthol, who was allegedly stabbed to his abdomen by France.
According to reports, France and Goddette are friends and had gone to the Nassano Landing on Christmas Eve, during the day, to party at a bar. At the bar, France allegedly started an argument with the bartender over a bottle of champagne. The argument turned into a fight and involved other patrons who tried to defend the bar tender. France had allegedly armed himself with a pair of scissors to fend them off his attackers and eventually stabbed one to his abdomen.
A gunshot in the air ended the fight around 22:30hrs and the stabbed patron, Devor Sthol, fell to the floor severely injured. Sthol was picked up and rushed to the Port Kaituma Hospital for emergency medical attention. He was eventually airlifted to the city for surgery. According to information police received, his father Kurtland Damon, was told about the incident, which left his son critically injured.

Witnesses reportedly told cops that Damon and Kyte decided to ambush Damon son’s attackers that same night, fatally stabbing them on a trail leading to their camp. By time police got to the scene, Godette and France’s bodies had already started to decompose. As a result, police decided to bury them in marked graves with the intention of exhuming the corpses at a later date for the autopsies.
Police Constable on $1M bail for allegedly killing Orin Boston
On Friday, a member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) was placed on $1M bail for the killing of Essequibo businessman, Orin Boston. The rank, Police Constable Sherwin Peters, appeared via Zoom from the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Esther Sam.
The unrepresented rank was not required to plead to the indictable manslaughter charge, which alleges that on September 15, 2021, at Dartmouth, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, he killed Boston.
The police prosecutor made an objection to bail being granted to the rank on the grounds that a life was lost. However, the Magistrate granted the rank bail and the matter was adjourned to February 1, 2022.
Peters was charged almost four months after Boston was killed during a Special Weapons and Tactical Service Unit (SWAT) operation in his Dartmouth, Essequibo Coast, home. An investigation was launched into the killing of the businessman and based on the findings, the charge was on Friday instituted against the rank who allegedly fatally shot and killed Boston.

 

 

 

 

 

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