…President Ali urges in WCB killings
President Irfaan Ali said that it is with a heavy heart that he was informed of the brutal and senseless murders of the teenagers and he has asked the police force to deploy all the needed resources to bring the criminals to justice.
“I have since spoken to the Minister of Home Affairs and Commissioner of Police urging them to deploy all needed resources to bring the perpetrators to justice. We cannot and would not tolerate this type of brutality in our communities and country. I can understand the pain of the families and community and my prayers and thoughts are with you. Whilst we await the swift work of the police to bring those responsible to justice, I urge residents from the communities to be patient and support the police in ensuring justice is served,” Ali said in statement which was released to the privately-owned Newsroom. “I ask you to act lawful and responsible in demonstrating your anger and hurt. As President, I can understand the emotions but I ask that the police be given an opportunity to do their job. I also assure all of you that I have asked for a constant update on the progress of the investigation by the Police to be shared with the media, community and country,” the Guyanese leader said.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the teenagers killed at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice bore several gaping wounds and blood stains dotted a coconut farm where they were found, police said in a statement Sunday night. In the statement, which was released several hours after the discovery of the bodies, police said investigations are ongoing into the alleged murder of Joel Henry, age 18 years, a labourer and Isaiah Henry, age 16, a student of Lots 26 and 32 Number 3 Village, West Coast Berbice, respectively, which occurred sometime between 05:30 hrs on Saturday and 15:30 hrs on Sunday.
Enquiries disclosed that the victims left their homes about 05:30 hrs on Saturday for Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice to pick coconut to sell but had not returned as of 20:00 hrs on the said date which caused the mother of Isaiah to lodge a missing person report at the Blairmont Police Station at 20:30 hrs and the mother of Joel Henry to lodge a missing person report at 09:00 hrs on Sunday, since neither of them had returned home at that time.
Further, about 09:00 hrs on 2020-09-06 relatives and friends of the victims formed a search party and went into Cotton Tree Village backdam to find the two victims.
About 15:30 hours while conducting the search in the backdam of the said village (Cotton Tree, WCB) the bodies of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry were found about 600 feet from each other in clumps of bushes near to a coconut farm.
Isaiah Henry’s body was seen lying on his back with his head pointing in an easterly direction and feet pointing west. The body was clad in a pair of grey short pants, light green long-sleeved jersey and was without shoes. A wound was seen on his throat, two to his left side head, one on his forehead and one to the left side chin.
Joel Henry’s body was found with the upper half in a hole. The body was clad in a black long pants, green long-sleeved jersey with white fine strip and was also bare footed. The body bore a mark around his throat and bruises on the fingers of his right hand. The scene was processed by ranks of the Crime Scene Unit who observed no blood stains nor weapon around the bodies or within the immediate vicinity.
Further examination of a nearby coconut farm owned by the suspect now in custody showed what appeared to be blood stains on the ground. Also, a coconut peeler and some peeled coconuts were seen at the said location. The bodies were escorted to Fort Wellington Public Hospital where they were both pronounced dead by a doctor on duty and were afterwards escorted to Anthony Funeral Home Mortuary where the await Post Morten Examination. Investigations in progress. The suspect, a 57-year old rice farmer of Cotton Tree, WCB remains in custody assisting with investigations.
