As investigators await the results of DNA tests from the charred remains believed to be those of Hakeen John who was electrocuted during a fruits raid with his friends, the suspect-farmer was released on $1M station bail.
This was confirmed by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who told the News Room on Wednesday that the suspect was placed on bail on the condition that he reports to investigators periodically.
The move, Blanhum said, is in keeping with a recommendation from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Once the DNA results return, DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack has requested that the case file in the matter be resent to her chambers for further legal advice on the way forward.
During a telephone interview with the News Room on Wednesday, Sharon said she expected that the suspect would have been charged and placed before the court.
Instead, she said on Monday she learnt that the suspect was released from custody.
“The police come to me and tell me that they put the man (suspect) on bail. Can’t tell me how much they bail the man. They put the man on bail and the man is out on the road till the DNA come back,” Sharon told the News Room.
The grieving mother said she asked for a timeline in which the results are expected but wasn’t given a define answer.
“They (police) told me they don’t know,” Sharon said.
With the suspect now free, Sharon is fearful that he may go into hiding.
“I feel terrible….they release that man. I don’t know if that man is going to hide away his body or what he is going to do. If he’s not going to show up in court or what, I don’t know.
“That is murder…I would like justice for my child, she said.
Charred remains, suspected to be those of John also known as ‘Shaquille’ were discovered on February 26.
The discovery was made in a fire heap in an empty lot at Cone Shop Street, La Grange, West Bank Demerara. The empty lot is situated next door to the farm which is owned by the suspect.
Among the remains were human bones, including what appeared to be a skull; the heap also had several pieces of burnt tyres, a burnt denim jeans and an underwear.
It is believed that after John was electrocuted on the farmer’s fence, his body was burnt and buried.
The remains were unearthed one day after a 16-year-old friend of John went to the La Grange Police Station. He told Police he accompanied Shaquille and another friend to pick fruits from a farm.
The teenager reportedly related that he, Shaquille and the other friend were caught by the owner of the farm, and he chased them with a cutlass.
During that chase, Shaquille tried to scale the fence and was electrocuted.
He said he and the friend tried to remove Shaquille’s body from the fence but they couldn’t and so they hid behind a mango tree until the next morning.
That morning, the farmer took a bed sheet, wrapped Shaquille’s body and dragged him more into the farm, before disappearing.
He claimed that the raid happened in November last year. But John’s mother, Sharon Jones told the News Room that she last saw her son on December 05, 2023.
