Dellon Abrams, the prisoner who had been charged earlier this year with the killing of Police Corporal Seburn Elias during a recapture attempt, was yesterday afternoon committed to stand trial in the High Court at the conclusion of the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder charge against him.
Following the testimonies of 22 witnesses, Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry determined that there was sufficient evidence against Abrams for the murder of Elias in order for Abrams to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
Abrams had made his first appearance on January 10 and had been remanded to prison.
Abrams had been arrested for an alleged breaking and entering offence on January 6 and was beaten severely by public-spirited citizens, leading to his hospitalisation at the public hospital.
State Prosecutor Bharat Mangru had stated that while at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), Abrams was being escorted by police ranks when he asked to use the washroom. The man’s request was granted and he was taken, hands cuffed, to the washroom by a rank. However, he soon re-emerged with his hands freed and a scuffle ensued between him and his assigned guard. The officer, who had been carrying a .38 service revolver, was disarmed by Abrams before the convict managed to escape.
An alarm was raised and subsequent investigations led a party of policemen to the Alberttown area to conduct a search. There, the now-deceased Elias discovered Abrams stooping under a step. The stolen gun, the court heard, had been in Abrams’ hand at the time of the confrontation.
Elias, it was said, asked Abrams to hand over the weapon. However, the escaped prisoner instead aimed the gun at Elias and discharged several rounds.
In response, an accompanying officer discharged four rounds at Abrams from an AK-47 rifle. Elias was rushed to the GPH, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man had been shot twice, once in the chest just below the left breast and the other in his left side abdomen.
Following Elias’ death, questions had been raised on whether the officer had died from the rounds shot by Abrams or by those discharged by the fellow officer. Abrams was charged with the officer’s death four days after the murder following investigations by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Abrams was unrepresented throughout the duration of his PI. Amongst the 22 witnesses, at least six of the testifying witnesses were police officers. Elias’s wife, Alana Elias, had also testified.
Abrams is set to make another appearance before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on May 22 for another matter.
