Head of the Criminal Investigations Department, Superintendent of Police Clauston Francis says Vincentian women must be allowed to live their lives as they please without men’s approval.
He said his department takes seriously all reports of violence against women and would pursue the perpetrators relentlessly.
Francis made the point on Monday as police announced the arrest of Roland Cato aka Dinero, 25, of Ratho Mill in connection with the death of Precious Williams, 17, of Sion Hill, in May 2022.
Williams’ body was found in a sack at Richmond Hill on May 12, 2022, and an autopsy concluded that she died of multiple sharp-point injuries.
Prosecutors are alleging that she was killed between May 9 and 12, 2022.
Cato, who is serving an 18-year sentence for robbery, was charged with Williams’ murder and appeared before the Serious Offences Court on Tuesday.
The next hearing in the case is slated for Jan. 27, 2025.
Speaking at the press conference, Francis said he was delighted that the Major Crime Unit was able to bring a charge in the case.
“I must say that I am more than delighted that we have come to this juncture where we were able to charge someone for the death of Precious,” the chief detective said.
“I want to make it clear that as the head of CID, I take seriously any act of violence against women. My advice is to leave our women alone, allow them to live their lives the way they choose,” Francis said.
“We men may not always support the things they do or say, but they are all independent women and allow them to live their lives; leave our women alone, because once a report is made to us at CID, of any act of violence against women, we take it very seriously,” Francis said.
The superintendent said he treats any report of violence against women as if it is being made by “my mother, my daughter or my sister. So, leave our woman alone.”
Francis said the Precious Williams murder case was a complex one for investigators.
“It involved many hours and days of interviews, meetings, case conferences. It was tedious. It’s not often you’ll discover a female body chopped and placed in a bag and thrown in a gutter,” he said.
“It was difficult to establish motive and to determine who the perpetrator was,” he said and joined with acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams and acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Trevor Bailey aka Buju in praising the work of the MCU, especially detective Sergeant Kasankie Quow and his team “for doing a tremendous job in investigating this case”.
Francis also praised the involvement of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the advice and consultation.
“It was difficult, as I mentioned, and I am very delighted that we are able to charge this gentleman for the crime, and we are hoping that we obtain a secure, a positive prosecution.”
Speaking at the same press conference, Bailey aka Buju noted that when he took up the post a year earlier, he had vowed not to relent on finding Williams’ murderer as well as the person(s) who killed Veronica Small aka Keisha, 43.
Small’s body was found at the tarmac of the decommissioned ET Joshua Airport in Arnos Vale, on Aug. 25, 2022, with a piece of PVC conduit protruding from her vagina.
In December 2023, police charged Rion Cole aka “Pitbull”, a then 24-year-old labourer, of Paul’s Avenue, with murder in connection with Small’s death.
Cole is awaiting trial before the High Court.
“I gave the commitment then and I give it now that there are times when you just have to approach matters … from a different angle,” Bailey told the media on Monday.
He said there is nothing wrong if one detective takes a look at an investigation that another detective is leading or supervising.
“So, it is with a collaborative effort and having a different eye, looking at the same evidence, different training, different background, the person who looks into it is coming from a different background, and it is when all of us put that which we have learned over the years together with not just the evidence, but the evidence that can be corroborated,” Bailey said.
Bailey said that police are taking a fresh look at other cold cases and suggested that more murder charges may be brought soon.
“… all of the matters I give a commitment that we’re looking and I won’t be surprised if in the not-too-distant future you’re called back. … Don’t be surprised. If the commissioner sends out an invitation to the media to come. Please attend. You never know,” Bailey said.
The police is talking nonsense. A guy used to harass my cousin so many times she went to the police and nothing never comes of it. The guy never been arrested for all the harassment. If I did put hands on that guy I would have been arrested.