Berbice shooting: Engineer surrenders after death of fiancée

– family calls for 2nd autopsy
– woman arrested for attempting to get thumbprint of now dead woman

Hours after 32-year-old Ashmin Mahadeo of Williamsburg, Corentyne, died while receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to her neck, her fiancé, the prime suspect in the shooting, turned himself in.
This was confirmed by Regional Commander, Senior Superintendent Shivpersaud Bacchus, who added that 29-year-old Neil Madramootoo of Shoe Lane, New Amsterdam, turned himself in at about 10:00h at CID Headquarters in Georgetown.
Mahadeo took her last breath on Monday evening at the New Amsterdam Hospital after battling for her life for more than a month. She was initially hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital but was transferred to New Amsterdam – a decision her brother, Narish Mahadeo, stated was taken by GPHC.
The brother stated that prior to her demise, “They say that she was stable and she was doing far better.”

Nevertheless, an autopsy was performed on her body on Tuesday and the dead woman’s brother is calling for a second autopsy even before obtaining the results citing ‘skullduggery’ as a reason.
The post-mortem was performed by Government Pathologist, Dr Vivekanand Bridgemohan at the Bailey Funeral Home at Number 4 Village, West Coast Berbice.
According to the Police, Dr Bridgemohan did not give a cause of death, claiming that he had to check the hospital records before pronouncing the cause of death.
“We know Nehaul Singh was to do the post-mortem and when we go there, we saw Dr Bridgemohan. When he was finished, he told me to call him tomorrow for the results because he needed the file from New Amsterdam before he could be finished with the post-mortem results. I am not satisfied with that,” Mahadeo said.
“He is supposed to give me the results the same time when he did it as to what he saw being the cause of death. He is not supposed to wait for the next day to get the results. He should just put what his findings were. I am not satisfied with this PM and I am requesting another PM on her and hope that I will get the true result,” he added. However, the post mortem results were later given as septic anemia shock and gun shot injuries.
The dead woman’s brother is of the opinion that there are forces trying to pervert the course of justice.
“I don’t know who it was but it is some family for the guy who keeps visiting her and she do it without any family member permission. Up to Sunday night, she was there at the hospital with a paper saying that it was not Neil who shot her,” the brother stated.
The Police have since confirmed that a nail technician who they believed was attempting to coerce the now deceased into affixing her thumbprint on a certain document was arrested on Sunday.
Following the shooting incident, Madramootoo was arrested but was subsequently released on $300,000 station bail after the legal 72-hour detention period had expired.
He was later rearrested after Police were able to secure a statement from Mahadeo, who reportedly confirmed that it was Madramootoo who shot her. As such, he was charged and again granted bail in the sum of $500,000. Now that Mahadeo is dead, the attempted murder charge will be upgraded to murder.
Mahadeo was discovered with a gunshot wound to her neck and was rushed to a hospital in Berbice in an unconscious state. Reports are that the bullet entered from the back of the neck and exited through the jaw.
Police were able to gather evidence in relation to an illegal firearm that was found in the house where the shooting incident took place. Ballistics tests were also done while detectives also checked the hands and clothes of the fiancé for gunpowder residue.
At the time of the shooting, the couple was packing items in Madramootoo’s company vehicle to be taken to a location in Port Mourant where the couple’s bridal shower/reception was expected to take place.
The injured woman’s fiancé initially told her relatives that he did not know what transpired and even suggested that it might have been a robbery.
He had claimed that he did not know where Mahadeo’s cell phone was and that he could not find his.
However, both phones were subsequently discovered in a vehicle which the engineer had access to. The couple was slated to get married at the end of the year.