Suspect in Donnis King, Ivor Cordis murders refused bail

The Mc Doom man who allegedly killed 14-year-old Donnis King in March this year, appeared in court yesterday also jointly charged with the murder of a cooking gas deliveryman, the attempted murder of an ex-policeman and a gunpoint robbery.

Travis Rudder of Lot 5 Public Road, Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara was said to be 19 years old when he was shot and captured last week by the police.

However, yesterday in court, his age was listed as 27 years old. He was not required to plead to any of the four indictable charges.

Magistrate Hazel Octive Hamilton remanded him to prison along with Sivon Warner, 25, of Tucville, his co-accused in the murder of Demerara Oxygen Company (DOCOL) employee Ivor Cordis.

Rudder is also accused of attempting to murder ex-policeman Toney Williams on November 19. He will return to the court on December 17 in connection with this matter.

It was also alleged that on May 15, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Nicola Barkley of one Motorola cell phone valued $32,000 and $17,000. This case will continue on January 9, 2008.

Rudder and Warner appeared in court neatly dressed in jeans and shirts. Many of their relatives filled the courtroom during the hearing, and afterwards a few of them burst into tears. The accused were unrepresented.

When the hearing concluded, the two emerged from the court chute on their way to the lockups with their faces hidden; their relatives boldly threw sheets of newspaper in front of a cameraman to prevent him from photographing them. Warner was among 12 men arrested last Wednesday when police searched some 14 homes during raids in La Penitence, Albouystown, Alberttown, and Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

Rudder, on the other hand, had been cornered on a street in Mc Doom last Thursday, and shot in both legs. He was later admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital under police guard.

Back in March, Rudder allegedly shot King at her parents’ Bagotstown home during an argument. The police had said that investigations disclosed that King had a relationship with the man and the couple had an altercation, during which she expressed a desire to end the relationship. She was shot in the abdomen. King had told this newspaper from her hospital bed that she had been attempting to dash into her house to escape her assailant when she was shot. Following two months of hospitalisation, the teen succumbed to her injuries in the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Police had issued a wanted bulletin for Rudder but he managed to evade them.

Rudder will make his next appearance in this case at the Providence Magistrate’s Court on January 22, 2008.

Meanwhile, two Tuesdays ago, he allegedly shot ex-policeman Toney Williams on Laing Avenue. Williams and a friend were sitting on a bridge just after 7 pm when Roberts reportedly approached them and opened fire.

According to reports, two men approached Williams and his friend and one pointed a gun at the neck of his friend. Williams reportedly pushed the other man and ran, but several shots were fired in his direction hitting him in his upper left leg and on one of his thumbs. Williams managed to run to his sister-in-law’s James Street, Albouys-town home.

Cordis, who delivered gas during his spare time was shot dead nearly two weeks ago and then robbed of cash by two men.

The 47-year-old Norton Street, Bagotstown man had his niece and two nephews with him when he was attacked.

The children were in the cab of the Canter truck with their uncle and the truck was stationary.

Reports said a man with a gun approached the vehicle and accosted Cordis. Then one of the bandits hauled the children out of the cab, before shooting Cordis to the right side of his face.

After shooting him, the bandits reportedly rifled through his pockets and took whatever money he had before fleeing the scene.