A joint murder charge was yesterday laid against two men who were earlier in the year charged separately with the murder of French Guiana-based clothing vendor Purcell Moore.
Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan read the joint charge to Kelvin Persaud, 21, and Selwyn Dawson, also 21, after police prosecutor Neville Jeffers stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advised that the separate charges be withdrawn and the joint charge instituted.
Subsequent to the separate charges being withdrawn, the Chief Magistrate read the joint charge, which alleged that Persaud and Dawson on December 20th, 2017, at Old Road, Craig, murdered Moore.
Neither of the accused was required to enter a plea to the indictable charge.
After a report from prosecutor Jeffers, the magistrate remanded both accused to prison and the matter was then adjourned until January 29th.
Moore was attacked around 7 am, at Old Road, Craig, not far from his parents’ home.
Initial investigations, police said, revealed that Moore was on his way home when he was confronted by the suspects, one of whom was armed with a handgun.
An argument reportedly erupted between the victim and the suspects and it escalated into a scuffle, during which the armed suspect allegedly discharged several rounds at the victim.
The victim was subsequently rushed to the East Bank Demerara Regional Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival. He had arrived a few days earlier from Cayenne, French Guiana.
