Murder accused George Hope walks free

George Hope, 30, was Monday acquitted of the 2018 murder of 47-year-old moneychanger, Shawn Nurse known as ‘Fabulous’.

Hope of Freeman Street, La Penitence was on trial before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.

On Monday, after two hours of deliberation, a 12-member jury returned with a unanimous not guilty verdict.

Last week, George’s co-accused Kerwin Dos Santos was freed after the judge upheld a no-case submission made by his attorney, Nigel Hughes.

Dos Santos was freed due to the lack of evidence. However, the judge had overruled the submission for George and called on him to lead his defence.

Nurse was gunned down in America Street, Georgetown on February 4, 2018, while plying his trade. Both men had pleaded not guilty to the capital offence.

Back in 2018, investigators were able to arrest the suspects after reviewing surveillance footage that captured the murder.

The Police had noted that Nurse was sitting in a chair plying his trade when the armed perpetrator approached him from a northern direction and demanded that he hand over his money.

Nurse resisted and the perpetrator discharged a round hitting him in his left cheek, resulting in his death.

In 2018, a third accused, Kacey Heyliger was charged jointly with Dos Santos and George.

However, he was freed during the Preliminary Inquiry stage at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court due to the lack of evidence.