After almost a year on the run, Shivanand Roopnarine of School Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara, was captured and has since allegedly confessed to the murder of his girlfriend Alissa McPherson, who was stabbed to death in Sophia, Greater Georgetown, on April 19, 2015.
He was today charged and remanded to prison for the crime and is expected to make his next court appearance on April 18, 2016.
The 21-year-old murder suspect was reportedly heading to Mahdia and while at the checkpoint at Mabura, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), he was asked to produce a form of identification. It was at this point that Police recognised the young man and made the arrest.
Mc Pherson was stabbed about 41 times and left to die by the jealous man near a washroom in a yard located at Cappy’s Place, Dennis Street, Sophia, where a dance was being held.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that on the night of the incident, he became annoyed after seeing the teenager dancing with another man. Upon seeing this, he ordered McPherson to leave the dance but she refused and in retaliation, he dragged her to the back of the yard where he stabbed her multiple times before escaping.
Meanwhile, relatives of the dead woman are finally satisfied that the fugitive was captured and will face the full force of the law.
Her father, Ankoma Powers, in an interview stated that he is overjoyed that the perpetrator who has been on the run for almost a year was finally arrested and has allegedly confessed to killing his daughter.
“I have waited so long to hear this, searched high and low for him… I was forced to give up the kind of intense search that I was doing cause it was taking a toll on me , but I knew he was out there and never gave up hope in finding or seeing him one day,” he stated.
He commended the Guyana Police Force for their interest in the matter and their determination, and more so, the officer who executed the arrest.
The emotional father stated, “It is hard to lose your children, it rips at me every moment I remember her… full of life, always smiling, pleasant and beautiful, she was the total package, a gem and to have witnessed her breathe her last breath, it was the most unpleasant experience in my life”, he added.
