The 25-year-old man accused of killing three people and attempting to kill three others in Belmont on May 16 has urged that police do their investigation “right”.
“Tell them do their investigation right,” Kesroy Ryan told the media in an unsolicited comment as police escorted him from the Serious Offences Court after his arraignment on Monday.
Ryan, a labourer, had just appeared before Chief Magistrate Colin John, who read him indictable charges that on May 16, at Belmont, he murdered Lesline Davis, Demeon Cumberbatch, and Joel Browne.
Davis, 69, a businesswoman and shopkeeper, along with Cumberbatch, 38, and Browne, 36, two of her customers, were gunned down in her shop.
Ryan is also accused of attempting to murder Bancroft Abbott, Lorna Davis, and Hayden Ballantyne, all of Belmont, during the same May 16 incident.
He was not allowed to plead to the indictable charges, and bail was not open to him on the murder charges.
While bail is allowed for attempted murder, John said that admitting Ryan to bail would be cosmetic, as Ryan would still be remanded on the murder charges.
The magistrate, however, asked Ryan’s lawyer, Michelle Fife, for her submissions on bail.
Fife informed the court that the defence was not making a bail application.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor, Inspector of Police Renrick Cato, said that the prosecution would object to any application for bail.
He asked that Ryan be remanded in custody until June 2 for a status hearing.
Cato said that the prosecution was hoping to inform the court then about how it intended to proceed with the matter.
Some of the relatives of the deceased, including Davis’ son, Yohance Gibson, who is principal of St. Martin’s Secondary School, attended the hearing inside the courtroom.
The onlookers outside the court included a man who said he is a relative of one of the murder victims, and another who said he was the deceased men’s friend.
Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Trevor “Buju” Bailey is leading the investigation. His team includes Detective Station Sergeant Biorn Duncan of the Major Crimes Unit.
Earlier on Monday, Bailey told a press conference that the investigation into the killings continues and more charges are likely to be laid.
He, however, said that Ryan was the only person in custody in connection with the killings.