2nd person charged with murder of 10-year-old Sophia boy

…Cuban woman remanded for killing relative

A 29-year-old is now the second person charged for the murder of 10-year-old Anthony Cort, who was shot during a robbery in Sophia, Greater Georgetown in March.

Kendrick Cozier, called “Bullaboy”, of ‘A’ Field Sophia, was arraigned in the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday, and has been remanded to prison.
It is alleged that on March 11 at Sophia, Cozier, called “Bullaboy”, murdered Anthony Cort during a robbery. He returns to court on July 9.
Last March, a 16-year-old lad was also charged for Cort’s murder, and he has been remanded to a juvenile holding facility. The teenager had appeared at the Children’s Court in Georgetown.
It was reported that two gunmen wearing face masks had invaded a property in C Field Sophia belonging to a 44-year-old businesswoman, who is Cort’s aunt. At the time of that invasion, the 10-year-old Cort was in the upper flat of the home in the company of others.

The bandits entered the lower flat of the home and held the occupants at gunpoint. They relieved the victims of two cell phones, each valued at $80,000; two gold bands valued $100,000, two gold rings valued $100,000, one gold chain valued $100,000, and $80,000 in cash.
According to Police, the bandits then ordered the victims into the upper flat of the house via a northern door. As they went into the upper flat, Anthony Cort was about to exit a north-eastern bedroom when one of the bandits discharged a round that hit him in his left upper shoulder. Cort later succumbed to his injuries.

Alleged confession
Cozier was arrested by the Police only last week Friday. In a caution statement he gave, Police said, Cozier related that the teenager had told him that one of his relatives was in a relationship with the businesswoman, and that she had millions of dollars in cash and jewellery at her home.
According to the Police, Cozier said the juvenile then took three of his friends, namely “Gully”, “Rodell” and “Mario”, and a black gun was supplied by “Gully”. He reportedly admitted that the 16-year-old planned that “Gully” would go into the shop to purchase something as a decoy, while “Mario” and “Rodell” would be the lookouts.
Cozier allegedly told detectives that he and the 16-year-old planned that they would go into the house and demand the valuables. He added that he and the teen went to the shop, and the teen pointed the gun at three females who were inside the said shop.
Police said the murder accused claimed that he was not armed. In addition, he allegedly confessed that he relieved the victims of their valuables, but claimed that the 16-year-old then went into the house.
According to the confession statement, Cozier said that after the teen went to the upper flat of the house, he heard a loud explosion that sounded like a gunshot.
He claimed that after hearing that sound, he immediately ran into the upper flat and saw a young boy lying motionlessly on the ground, with the teen standing over him. He reportedly told the Police that he ran out of the house, picked up his bicycle which he had stashed before the robbery, and rode away.
According to the Police, Cozier said the teen later met him and the other accomplices and admitted to killing the child. He said they then parted the money and jewellery and the 16-year-old returned the firearm to “Gully” before leaving.
Police say Cozier claimed that since the incident, he never saw the teen again, adding that he travelled to West Coast Demerara, where he stayed.

Manslaughter
Meanwhile, in another matter, 44-year-old Miledidys Quezada Lezcano of Charlotte Street, Georgetown was remanded to prison on a manslaughter charge over the fatal stabbing of her relative.
Lezcano, a Cuban national and a domestic worker, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, and was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on May 19, 2021, at Charlotte Street, Georgetown, she unlawfully killed 40-year-old Lopez Cardenas Yoesmarita. The now-dead man is also a Cuban national.
The Police have said that Yoesmarita, who had been armed with a knife, had been attempting to remove Lezcano from the premises when a scuffle ensued between them, during which Lezcano took away the weapon from Yoesmarita and stabbed him to his lower back.