– Court reveals suspect sentenced in absentia on another charge; faces other trials on separate charges
A man who had evaded law enforcement officers for more than a year but decided to turn himself in Wednesday has been remanded to prison for the 2024 murder, allegedly over a cell phone, in the Corentyne.
Nicholas Johnson, called ‘Suga,’ a 25-year-old heavy-duty machine operator, was not required to plead when he appeared before Magistrate Tuanna Hardy at the Springlands Magistrate Court charged with murder.
Johnson is now being charged, 17 months after the offence, because he was on the run until Wednesday, when he turned up at the Springlands Police Station with an attorney, where he was arrested.
Johnson is being represented by attorneys Chandra Sohan and Adrian Annamyaha.
No stranger to the courts
In court on Thursday it was also revealed that Johnson had been sentenced for another matter while on the run and also had other trials in unrelated matters at the same time.
After being placed in custody, police notified Johnson that in his absence he was sentenced to a 51-month jail term for felonious wounding committed on Andrea Greaves.
That sentence was imposed by Magistrate Robindranauth Singh.
Johnson is also committed by Magistrate Renita Singh to stand trial in the High Court for rape.
He was also charged for causing bodily harm by wanton driving and also faced various assault charges.
2024 murder allegation
It is alleged that on February 20, 2024, at Number 53 Village Corentyne, Johnson murdered Colene Toney.
The court was told that Johnson and 31-year-old Toney had an argument that escalated. Johnson then left the scene and returned with a knife and dealt Toney several stabs before fleeing.
The injured man was taken to the Skeldon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the court heard.
It had been reported that at about 23:30h on the day in question, Toney was stabbed several times, including once in the chest.
Reports are that Johnson, a taxi driver at the time and of Number 51 Village, carried out the act.
Toney’s mother, Clair Hope, told this publication back then that her son and Johnson got involved in an argument over a cell phone earlier in the night.
According to Hope, her son had sold the taxi driver a phone for $20,000 but was not paid immediately.
Her son subsequently demanded payment and was given $5000 of the $20,000 being demanded. The two men subsequently got involved in a fight, then Johnson left and returned with a knife.
The case has been transferred to the Number 51 Court and comes up again on August 27.
