Investigation into three killed by police ongoing

THE charging of eight police officers earlier this week for murder is not affecting the police investigation into another police killing, lead investigator Snr Supt Neil Brandon-John said on Thursday.

On Monday, Sgt Joseph Solomon, Cpl Charles Budri and PCs Vaughn St Cyr, Sean Lord, Mark Lewis, Sherwin Baptiste, Colin Furlonge and Jameel Mohammed, were each charged with murdering Joel "Lion" Jacob, 38, his childhood friend Noel Diamond, 46 and Israel Moses Clinton, 27, at Juman Drive, Second Caledonia, Morvant on June 27, 2020.

The charges highlighted pending police-involved shooting cases including the deaths of three people killed on July 2.

In that incident, police killed 17-year-olds Isaiah Roberts and Leonardo Williams and 21-year-old Fabian Richards. The three were among six in a car which police said was allegedly stolen.

At the end of a chase from Diego Martin to Independence Square, police said they were shot at and were forced to return fire, killing the three and injuring a 15-year-old who shot in the arm and grazed on the abdomen and leg.

In a telephone interview with Newsday, Brandon-John said the increased pressure over the charging of police officers in that matter would not impact his investigation. He said he was awaiting documents from the Forensic Science Centre which would influence the next step in the investigations.

Both Brandon-John and the Police Complaints Authority are investigating the matter.

“At his stage, I am awaiting the official documentation from the people that have to provide it for me. When I get them in my hand I will be a step closer to completing the investigation.

"So my whole processes right now is dependent on the documentation that I get. When I get that documentation it will give me a determination whether I would take the next two weeks, three months as the case may be.

"So for me to tell you now that I could close off the investigation by the end of the week, it will be difficult for me to tell you that.”

The three survivors in the July 2 incident were not charged with any offences, even though police claimed a firearm was recovered. Asked about this, Brandon-John said that too is part of the information he is awaiting from Forensic Science Centre.

In an interview with I95 FM on Sunday, acting Police Commissioner Mc Donald Jacob said the investigation will come to an end by the end of next week.

In response, Brandon-John said, “You definitely cannot put time on investigations of this nature to be completed because there are that there are several different variables that you have to factor into it.”

He added that he could not tell staff at the Forensic Science Centre how long to take to do their jobs.

Three officers involved in the killing of the two teens and their friend were removed from patrols and placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.