Murder of Sophia bread vendor: Second suspect freed

Neville Forde, who was on trial for the 2016 fatal shooting of Sophia, Georgetown bread vendor Andre Melroy Alexander, was on Tuesday acquitted of the charge following a not guilty verdict by a jury.

Forde, 25, was on trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and a 12-member jury at the Demerara High Court for the murder of Alexander, who was fatally shot during a robbery on May 5, 2017, at ‘C’ Field Sophia.

The state was represented by prosecutor Lisa Cave, while attorneys Ronald Daniels and Kiswana Jefford represented Forde.

The jury, after deliberating for over two hours on Tuesday afternoon, returned with a unanimous not guilty verdict.

In 2019, Forde’s former co-accused Shaquille Grant was acquitted of the crime after Justice Navindra Singh upheld a no-case submission.

However, the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict for Forde and his case was sent for retrial.

According to reports, Alexander was a bread vendor and had a stand at ‘C’ Field Sophia.

It was claimed that on the day in question at about 20:30 hrs, Forde, along with another man, rode up to Alexander’s stand on a CG motorcycle and shot the bread vendor to his chest.

The men reportedly relieved the vendor of an undisclosed sum of cash and made good their escape.

Alexander was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he died while receiving treatment.