2 accused in murder of Berbice man profess innocence

Stefon Howard and Shawn Dos Santos – the two men charged with the September 24, 2017 murder of 58-year-old Fazal Shaheed – professed their innocence on Friday through unsworn statements to the jury.
At around 00:45h on September 24, 2017, Fazal and his two brothers – Talim Shaheed of Canada and Shalim Shaheed of the United States, who were also shot during the robbery – were preparing for their father’s memorial service when two masked men invaded a property at Lot 194 Freeman Street, East La Penitence, Georgetown.

The men entered via an unlocked door and attacked the brothers who were sitting in the living room. The armed men relieved their victims of the jewellery they were wearing and fired several shots before escaping. In the end, the brothers were shot.
They were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment, but Fazal succumbed while undergoing surgery. The alleged perpetrators were later apprehended by the Police, and according to reports, one of them confessed to the robbery/murder.
When their trial continued on Friday before Justice Jo Ann Barlow, Howard and Dos Santos were called on to lead a defence after lawyers for the prosecution indicated that they had called all their witnesses. With advice from their lawyer Konyo Sandiford, the suspects who appeared in court via Zoom, elected to give unsworn statements.
“I never kill nobody…I don’t even know why I’m here at this time. I’m innocent of this crime,” said Dos Santos. His co-accused, Howard said, “I have no knowledge about this robbery. I’m innocent of this.” The trial has been adjourned to Monday for closing addresses.
At a previous hearing, Fazal’s widow Rahima Shaheed recounted seeing her spouse lying on the verandah in a pool of blood. She recalled that she and her husband had left their Albion, Berbice home on September 23, 2017, to attend her father-in-law’s one-year memorial service.
The widow recounted that at about 00:40h on September 24, 2017, she was in the kitchen area of the home when someone, whom she described as a “dark figure”, came up to her with a gun. She said that the man’s face was covered, and she could have seen only his eyes, but she added that he had a small body structure.
“…and he tell me go down on the ground and don’t make no noise. So I looked down, I didn’t do anything. I was praying…then I hear lots of gunshots…like crackers. I heard like 10 or 11 gunshots. The gunshots were coming from the living room…” she recalled.
After the gunshots rang out, Rahima said she heard Talim Shaheed groaning. “I get up and wash my hands, and when I go in the sitting room, I see Talim and Shalim with blood, and I tell them, ‘Guys, open your eyes’.” Wiping away tears, she added, “My husband was on the verandah, lie down with a set blood. I shake him and I started to scream…”
According to her, relatives called a car, “and we help fetch the boys [Fazal, Talim, and Shalim] them and put them in the car.”
She related that the driver made a brief stop at the East La Penitence Police Station, where they reported the robbery and later left for the Georgetown Public Hospital. She said that she subsequently learned that her husband died, while Talim and Shalim were admitted as patients.