‘ISWE’ charged for murder, remanded

Shaquawn Alleyne popularly known as ‘ISWE, the man who is accused of fatally shooting his 20-year-old fiancée Shonnette Dover and burying her in a shallow grave back in 2021, was on Tuesday charged with murder and remanded to prison.

In handcuffs, Alleyne appeared via Zoom at the Linden Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Wanda Fortune. He was unrepresented.

The charge read that between April 03 and 30, 2021, Alleyne murdered Dover.

Alleyne stood calmly, without expression, and gave his age as 24 and said he is a barber of Wismar, Linden. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge.

Alleyne also told the Court that he is the father of a four-month-old toddler. He was on the run for almost three years and was recently arrested.

This is not his first time in Court; at just 17 years old, Alleyne was arrested with 16 grams of amphetamines in his possession and was charged and while that matter was dismissed he was charged yet again for inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The second charge was also dismissed against him after the victim opted to be compensated.

Police Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent Vernette Pindar-Whittaker informed the Court that the murder investigation is ongoing since investigators are yet to locate the firearm used in the murder.

As such, the case was adjourned to February 27 for report.

The charge comes days after Alleyne, who was arrested in Suriname last week confessed to the crime on his return to Guyana.

He claimed it was accidental and not “intentional” or “premeditated”.

In his confession, Alleyne reportedly implicated Dover’s teenage sister, who was charged with accessory.

Alleyne reportedly claimed that he was cleaning the gun when the trigger accidentally went off and struck Dover to her forehead.

He told investigators that it was Dover’s sister who came up with the plan to dig a hole and bury her in the backyard.

Alleyne has since implicated two other men, who are both residents of Linden in the crime.

One of the men, a resident of Block 22, Wismar, Linden, allegedly bought the gun that was used to shoot Dover from Alleyne before he fled to Suriname.

And after that man learnt that the weapon might have been the murder weapon in the case, he allegedly sold it to another man.

Both men were arrested between last Saturday and Monday. They remain in custody as investigators are yet to locate the murder weapon, a .38 pistol.

Dover’s body was found in a sitting position in a shallow grave in the backyard of Alleyne’s house at Canvas City, Wismar Linden on April 30, 2021.

Dover was missing since April 3, 2021. A post-mortem examination later found that the woman died as a result of a single gunshot injury to the head.