Guyanese medical student still being held over Cuban murder

More than seven months after Guyana scholarship student Shurlon Austin was accused of murdering a man and slitting a woman’s throat in Cuba, he remains in police custody and is expected to appear in court within the next week or two.

This is according to Public Service Minister Dr. Jennifer Westford, who said that a court hearing is expected within the next two weeks. When asked whether Austin has been charged, Westford said that she has not been made aware of such a development.

Austin, of Pattensen, South Sophia, allegedly committed the acts on April 27, during an argument over the price of a watch with the owner of the Havana store, where he had gone to buy a watch.  Austin reportedly stabbed the man at least 11 times before turning his knife on the woman, the man’s wife, who had intervened.

Austin left Guyana in 2006 at the age of 24 and was scheduled to complete the Cuba-leg of his medical studies this year. Thereafter, he would have returned to Guyana to complete his final year of studies before graduation.