Police on Saturday condemned the “vandalism of properties” in Glen after the chopping incident there that resulted in the death of Ronaldo Adams, 21, Wednesday night.
“The community response to this incident was shocking. We witnessed the vandalism of properties as a direct response to this killing,” acting Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime fighting, Trevor “Buju” Bailey, said at a police press conference in Kingstown on Saturday.
“Now, we urge members of the general public that they ought not to engage themselves in any sort of vigilante justice, and that the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, we are the organisation that is charged with the responsibility of investigating crimes in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Bailey said.
“… people ought to comply with the laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and cooperate with the police and divulge any information that they have, channel it to the police so that we can use that information with the best of intent in bringing perpetrators to justice.”
Bailey’s comments came after he announced that police have charged DeAndre McDonald, a 26-year-old barber, also of Glen, with murder in connection with the killing.
Bailey said police are alleging that Adams sustained multiple chop wounds during an altercation with McDonald and died as a result of his injuries.
“The police … responded and processed the scene, conducting investigations into the matter, and yesterday, McDonald was charged for the murder of Adams and he will appear before the court on Monday morning,” the senior detective said.
He said there were “some facts” to reports that the altercation between the two men began over fruits.
“There’s some facts behind that statement where an altercation started over some fruits, and it carried on from day one to day two, resulting in the loss of life. As unfortunate as that is, it is a reality,” Bailey said.
“And in the same breath, I appeal to our young men to find ways of dealing with these simple situations. We’re not [tolerant]. We seem not to have any sort of love and empathy for one another, and we seem to want to resort to violence to quell every situation that develops,” Bailey said.
“So, this is a very unfortunate situation that developed and ended up with the loss of a life over something that initially appears to be very trivial — over some fruits.”
McDonald is expected to be arraigned at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown.
He will not be required to enter a plea at this stage to the indictable charge, and Chief Magistrate Colin John is expected to set the date for a preliminary inquiry.
A preliminary inquiry is a hearing in which a magistrate determines if there is enough evidence to send the case to the High Court, where an accused would be allowed to plead or the case proceed to trial before a judge and a jury.
Police said on Saturday that the investigation remains active.
They are asking people with information that might help investigators to telephone +1784-456-1810, +1784-457-1211, or any police station or any officer.
In my opinion people learn from examples , wen de two ghost bin injured mr. J on his own property and were never arrested, did they comply with de law of svg ,? dem na get bitching wok ? Examples are de greatest teachers. , so sorry for the youths.
P
To me it’s hard to believe our youths is gone so far in ignorance 2 kill a friend over plumrose in st Vincent and the Grenadines dat does fall from trees 🌳 so rapidly causing sour flies and sand flies, it seems like something else in d martre beside the pissle
I do not condone killing of any person.
However, where do you draw the line when one violates another person property? When you call the police they are never arrested . Do you know if the man was simply defending himself in the process? You never know, if he did not defend himself, would he them be among the grim statistic? You be the judge.