The court hearing the trial in the 2017 murder of Cayenne-based clothes vendor Purcell Moore, was told that the accused—Kelvin Persaud and Selwyn Dawson—were seen fleeing the scene after the shooting.
That was the testimony of Detective Andre Higgins when he took the stand at the commencement of the trial on Monday before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Georgetown.
Persaud and Dawson are accused of fatally shooting Moore, who Prosecutor Lisa Cave said resisted them as they tried to rob him of his gold chain on the morning of December 20th, 2017, at Old Road, Craig.
The court heard from Detective Higgins that he was preparing to reverse his vehicle out of his yard when he heard what sounded like gunshots, which prompted him to step onto his bridge in a bid to ascertain the source of the sounds.
He said he saw three men some 100 yards away from where he was, in what appeared to be a scuffle with a fourth person who later fell to the ground. He described the scuffle as being a robbery in progress.
Higgins said he then observed the three men each get onto bicycles and flee the scene riding in his direction. As they neared him about 10 feet away, Higgins said he recognized them as being youths whom he knew very well from the community.
He said that as they rode past him standing on his bridge, he observed one whom he identified by the name Wayne Chester called ‘Smokey,’ stuffing “a black firearm in his pants waist.”
He said that as the young men rode past looking at him and he at them; he said nothing to them nor did they say anything to him. He said they proceeded to the public road where he eventually lost sight of them.
The detective said that by that time, a crowd had gathered around the person left lying on the road, the name of whom he later learnt to be Purcell Moore who had died.
At the scene, Higgins said he found a gold-coloured chain, a black bag, sweater and what he identified to be two 9mm spent shells. The policeman said that he subsequently called and reported the matter to the Grove Police Station which dispatched ranks to the scene.
He detailed that some weeks later, a confrontation was held between him and Dawson, at which he repeated to investigators what he had witnessed on the day in question, and confirmed by Dawson as being true.
Defence attorneys Damian Da Silva and Adrian Thompson who represent Persaud and Dawson respectively, both accused the detective of fabricating the story against their clients.
Da Silva suggested to Higgins that he had conveniently fabricated the story to assist the police force. Higgins, however, said that this was not the case, and was adamant that he was being truthful in the account of what he witnessed.
Thompson would go on to suggest to him that his client was at no time present at the scene.
“He was,” Higgins declared, while repeatedly emphasising that he was not mistaken as to any of their identities as he knew them well from the area. He said, too, that from time-to-time he would run into the young men at a neighbourhood snackette.
According to the witness, from the time he first observed what was happening, to the time the men got to the public road, not once did he take his eyes off them.
Da Silva quizzed the detective as to the reason he made no attempts to apprehend or otherwise engage the suspects.
Having observed that at least one of the suspects was armed, however, Higgins said that in an assessment for his own safety, he did not at the time think it prudent to engage any of them in any way.
Also testifying on Monday was father of the deceased, Purcell Moore Snr. who recalled hearing gunshots in the area and later learnt the devastating news that it was his son who had been shot and killed.
The elder Moore said that his son who in Guyana on vacation at the time, had told him and his mother that he would go the short distance away from their home to purchase fruits.
The emotional father recalled that shortly after his son left, he heard loud explosions which he likened to gunshots.
The man said he immediately tried to ascertain what was happening as he knew that his son had moments earlier left the house.
After venturing outside, the man said it was then that he was greeted with the sight of his son’s motionless body lying on the streets.
The trial continues this morning at 9.
Moore had arrived in Guyana from Cayenne, French Guiana only a few days before he was shot and killed.
Following investigations, Persaud called ‘Boyo’ and Dawson called ‘Crack Skull,’ were arrested and charged.
