The family and friends of Gavin Kennard Douglas on Sunday, November 8, laid the 32-year-old labourer to rest, with his casket taken to the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station where he died while in police custody.
The emotionally charged stop at the station brought renewed attention to the circumstances surrounding Douglas’s death on October 31 and the questions that remain about how he sustained the injuries that proved fatal while detained in the lock-ups.
Douglas, who lived at Crane Housing Scheme on the West Coast Demerara and Recht-Door-Zee, Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, died at approximately 12:45 p.m. He had been arrested earlier that day in connection with an alleged armed robbery at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, on October 28.
According to the Guyana Police Force’s account, Douglas was escorted to the station at about 11:36 a.m. Police said that, while being placed in the lock-ups around midday, he became aggressive and resisted officers, who restrained him and placed him in a cell.
At approximately 12:45 p.m., officers reportedly found him frothing at the mouth. He was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he died while receiving medical attention.
A post-mortem examination conducted on November 2 by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh determined that Douglas died from a brain haemorrhage caused by blunt-force trauma. Two Taser studs were also removed from his body and lodged as exhibits.
The findings intensified scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding his death, particularly how he sustained blunt-force injuries while in police custody.
The matter has since resulted in criminal charges against five police officers. Tiansay Thomas, Wencill Marshall, Joel Newsom, Bevis Lyle and Ariff Haniff were charged with murder and remanded to prison following their appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on November 6. They were not required to plead to the charge. The case was adjourned to November 17.
Douglas’s mother, Police Inspector Colette Jones, has publicly demanded answers, questioning how her son sustained the injuries and challenging aspects of the police account of his final hours. She has maintained that she will not be intimidated or silenced in seeking accountability.
Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond has called for a thorough and impartial investigation, emphasising the State’s responsibility to protect people in its custody.
Sunday’s funeral and the return of Douglas’s casket to the station where he died underscored the grief of a family still seeking answers. As the murder case proceeds, the circumstances of his final hours and the responsibility for his death remain matters for the courts to determine.
