A man, whom the court heard was mentally unfit to be charged, was declared fit to undergo two Preliminary Inquiries (PI) for two counts of murder committed against two vagrants.
Twenty-four-year-old Devon Johnson of Cummings Street Bourda, Georgetown, was charged on December 4,2019, for the murders when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Particulars of the first charge stated that on November 11, 2019, at Regent Street, Georgetown, he murdered Raymond Samaroo.
The second charge stated that on November 11, 2019, at Regent Street, Georgetown, he murdered Andrew Benjamin.
Johnson was not required to plead to the charges after they were read to him by the Magistrate.
This morning when the matter was called in the Chief Magistrate’s courtroom, the prosecutor informed the court that a psychiatric evaluation which was conducted, concluded that the accused was fit to stand trial.
The magistrate, after listening to the prosecutor, adjourned the matter until February 13 to give the Prosecutor time to complete the file.
According to information, on the day in question, around 21:30 hours, Samaroo was standing on the pavement outside Household Plus store when Johnson who was armed with a knife, approached him and dealt him several stabs about his body and made good his escape.
It was reported that a few hours later, around 03:00 hours, Benjamin and another were asleep in the vicinity of Lime Street when Johnson, who was armed with a knife, approached them and dealt Benjamin several chops about his body and made good his escape.
The injured men were then picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where they were pronounced dead on arrival. The matter was then reported and police, upon viewing CCTV footage, saw the defendant stabbing the men. He was then arrested for the offences.
On the defendant’s first court appearance, the prosecutor had informed the court that a medical evaluation was conducted on the defendant and based on the result, he is unfit to be charged for the offences. However, based on advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) he was charged.
