Man found not guilty of killing machine operator

A 12-member jury on Wednesday found 26-year-old Rayon Carter not guilty of the murder of machine operator Ishwar Ramanah.

Carter, formerly of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was on trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder.

He had pleaded not guilty to murdering Ramanah on January 13, 2018, in the County of Demerara during the course or furtherance of a robbery.

The accused was represented by attorney-at-law Konyo Sandiford, while prosecutor Latifah Elliot represented the State.

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

Carter was first tried for the capital offence before Justice Navindra Singh in March 2021.

However, the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict, even after further direction was given by Justice Singh.

Police had stated that Ramanah, known as ‘”Jack”, was shot to his abdomen during a robbery at his home at about 00:10h on December 13, 2017, by one of two armed bandits.

Ramanah was rushed to the Diamond Hospital where he was treated and transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

However, he succumbed to his injuries on January 13, 2018, while still hospitalized.