Farmer, 23, arraigned with murder of 7-Y-O

Two days after confessing to the brutal murder of seven-year-old Adriel Aftab Mohamed and the attempted murder of his great-grandmother, Shaeed Mohammed, called ‘Max’ was arraigned on Tuesday for the heinous crime. The 23-year-old farmer appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court and was not required to plead to the indictable charge.

As such, he was remanded to prison until July 20, 2026.

On Sunday evening, detectives were able to secure a confession from the suspect after he was confronted with compelling digital evidence linking him to the crime scene. It was reported that the suspect subsequently confessed to the brutal killing and provided investigators with a detailed account of how he entered the home and the events that followed.

The knife, which was recovered at the scene, was identified by the suspect as the weapon used to murder the child and attack the 72-year-old woman. At the time of the brutal attack, the accused was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, as he was seen imbibing at a nearby shop in the early hours of Friday.

During interrogation, he admitted that before entering the victims’ home, he had gone into a nearby yard but abandoned any attempts to enter the residence after realizing that someone was awake. In a haste to flee before an alarm could be raised, he left behind a pair of slippers and a music player, both of which he later identified as his property.

Additionally, detectives recovered blood-stained clothing believed to have been worn by the suspect during the attack. After committing the act, the accused reportedly went to his workplace, where it was observed that he had a visible wound on his hand, an injury that had not been present the previous day.
He later confessed that he had sustained the injury while carrying out the attack.

After collecting the evidence, the police file was sent for legal advice and was returned with a recommendation for murder charges to be instituted. The accused was arrested one day after slashing the child’s throat and stabbing his great-grandmother in her neck during a home invasion at their residence in Phase 3, Zeelugt New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, on Friday.

The child’s body was discovered lying in a pool of blood, while his bed-ridden great-grandmother was found on the ground in a semi-conscious state. She remains hospitalized.