Pomeroon resident Levoy La Cruz who had been accused of the stabbing death of 21-year-old miner Rafael Danns, with whom he was drinking when an argument erupted, has been acquitted of the charge.
Following hours of deliberations, a jury yesterday afternoon returned a unanimous verdict, finding La Cruz not guilty of the manslaughter charge.
He had been accused of unlawfully killing Danns called ‘Singh,’ 21, of Grant Anna Regina, Lower Pomeroon River, on September 8th, 2014.
The State’s case had been that La Cruz unlawfully stabbed the young man.
Defence attorney Lachmi Dindayal had advanced during the trial, however, that his client was acting only to defend himself, during the altercation which ensued between him and the now dead Danns.
Following the announcement of the jury’s verdict, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow who presided over the trial, informed La Cruz that he had been found not guilty of the charge and was therefore free to go.
The trial was heard at the High Court at Suddie.
This newspaper had previously reported that Danns was stabbed in the chest.
An autopsy had found that he had been knifed in the heart.
Beverly Danns had told Stabroek News that her son had left home on the fateful day to travel up the river for the interior where he plied his trade as a miner at Puruni.
“He was drinking but he was not drunk. I don’t know why my son get stab. He was never a rowdy person or anything,” she had said.
After the stabbing, several persons were taken to the Charity Police Station to give statements.
Stabroek News had been told that Rafael and the suspect had had a prior altercation.
