A 20-year-old Stabroek Market vendor of Durban Street Lodge, Georgetown was on Friday hauled before the courts where he faced a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of a Bourda market ‘cheese vendor’.
The accused was not required to plea to the indictable offence when it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan; the charge alleged that on August 15, 2018 at Robb Street Bourda, Georgetown he murdered Troy Ramalho.
The accused, Nya John was represented by attorney-at-law George Thomas who informed the court that his client is not a flight risk, and has no pending matters whatsoever in the courts.
However, the Chief Magistrate remanded John to prison until January 18, 2019.
John’s two other accomplices, Akeem Morris and George Paton were also previously charged with the murder of Ramalho.
According to police reports, on the day of the incident, the now dead man had already packed up his stall and was awaiting transportation to take him home. However, he was confronted by three gun-toting bandits, who held him at gunpoint and demanded that he hand over cash and other valuables.
Ramalho allegedly refused to comply with the bandits’ demands, and one of the armed men discharged a round that hit the vendor to his chest.
As he fell to the ground, the two other men relieved him of his valuables and made good their escape. It was reported that the incident happened in plain sight of two on-duty City Constables.
The deceased was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Cooperation where he succumbed to his injuries.
