Azmon Alexander and his accomplice, a 17-year-old boy, were last night charged with the triple murders of a Brasso Seco family.
Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard gave the green light to charge the suspects shortly before 8 pm, after reviewing a police file built by investigators over the last few days. Alexander was arrested on Saturday in Malabar and the teenager was held by police on November 15 at Goat Hill, Bypass Road, Arima.
Police investigators said last night they had a solid case against the two, who are scheduled to appear before an Arima magistrate today.
They were charged with the murders of Felix Martinez, 52, Irma Rampersad, 49, and 14-month-old Shania Amoroso. They were also charged with gun and ammunition offences, false imprisonment, shooting at the police, burglary, robbery and other serious criminal offences. Alexander was also charged with escaping legal custody, having bolted from the Mayaro Magistrates Court in January.
Alexander was charged hours after his attorney, Fareed Ali, complained that his client was being made to bathe with a hose in the same cell where he had to defecate and sleep. This was a clear violation of the Police Service Regulations on people in custody and to what they were entitled, Ali said.
Alexander was captured on November 23 by the Northern Division Task Force in a car on Lennox Yearwood Boulevard, Malabar.
He was deemed a person of interest in the disappearance of Brasso Seco residents Rampersad, her daughters Felicia, 17, and Jennelle Gonzales, 19; Amoroso; and Martinez, Rampersad’s neighbour.
Rampersad, her daughters and Amoroso were reported missing on October 26. Martinez went missing two days later but was initially believed to have gone hunting. Martinez and Amoroso were found dead in a blanket in the Brasso Seco forest on November 8, while Rampersad was found three days later. Autopsies revealed Martinez and Rampersad were strangled, but the autopsy on Amoroso was inconclusive.
Felicia and Jenelle were rescued by police from a makeshift camp on November 14 after a shootout with two men who were guarding them. The sisters were treated at hospital and have been in a safe house since then.
Meanwhile, the police who were involved in the exercise to catch Alexander and rescue the two girls yesterday were awarded $300 each at a ceremony at Police Academy, St James.
