“Short Boss” slapped with life sentence for 2nd killing

Twenty-eight-year-old Travis Evans, also known as “Short Boss,” who entered a guilty plea before Demerara High Court Justice Jo-Ann Barlow in relation to the unlawful killing of 46-year-old legal clerk Gregory Frank, was on Tuesday slapped with a life sentence. In handing down the ruling, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow informed Evans that he would not be eligible for parole until after serving 25 years.
Evans was represented in his trial by defence attorney Teriq Mohammed, while the state was represented by Praneta Seeraj.
During his arraignment on November 9, 2023, Evans admitted to killing Frank in the course or furtherance of a robbery committed at Kuru Kururu on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway between July 31 and August 2, 2018. Frank’s body was discovered lying in his home at Lot 686 Kuru Kururu with marks of violence to the head. His home had been broken into, and all of his possessions had been taken.
An autopsy determined the cause of Frank’s death as asphyxiation from a compression injury to his neck, compounded by physical trauma to his head.

Precedents
Justice Sandil Kissoon had, in April 2021, sentenced Travis Evans, called ‘Short Boss’, to life in prison for the August 2, 2018 death of 21-year-old Ronsley Clarke, a mason, who had been gunned down in the presence of his girlfriend outside a party at Sophia, Greater Georgetown.
Evans had opted to enter a plea to the lesser offence of manslaughter, after first being charged with the capital crime of murder. His sentence for that offence mandates that he serves a minimum of 25 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Guyana Times understands that Evans and Clarke had been known to each other, and had reportedly had a disagreement while they were at an event in Sophia about a month prior to this shooting incident.
On the day of the fatal shooting, Clarke had been in the company of his girlfriend Alesha Thomas at the C Field Sophia main access road when Evans, who was seen “chipping” into the said party, quickly drew a small silver pistol from his jacket, and before an alarm could be raised, discharged three rounds at Clarke. Two of the bullets struck Clarke – one to a right rib and one to the right side of his upper back.
Evans had then quickly made his escape in an unknown direction while patrons at the party ran for cover. The Police were called to the scene, and Clarke was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Moreover, a High Court Judge had, in 2018, slapped Evans with a three-year jail term for robbing a woman at knifepoint. He pleaded guilty to that indictment, which stated that, in Demerara, on October 30, 2010, while being armed with a knife, he robbed the woman of $650,500.
The second charge read that, aside from commission of that robbery, he had engaged in sexual penetration of the woman without her consent. He is yet to be tried for this sexual offence.
Additionally, Evans is among several inmates who had escaped from the Lusignan Prison in October 2018.