Coconut vendor arrested, arraigned for murder of seaman

Craig, EBD murder

The main suspect in the murder of 29-year-old Kishan Persaud, who was chopped to death on August 29, 2020, was arrested on Tuesday and arraigned for the capital offence.

Persaud was brutally chopped to death by Kendrick Shepherd, 37, of 2nd Street Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD), during an argument.
Upon his arrest, Shepherd was charged and taken to the Golden Grove/Diamond Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman and arraigned for the heinous crime.
He was not required to plead to the charge which stated that on Saturday, August 29, 2020, at Craig, East Bank Demerara, he murdered Persaud. He was remanded to prison until September 22.
It was reported that Persaud, a seaman of Lot 298 Buzz Bee Dam, Craig, EBD, was chopped twice to his neck by the accused and would have succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
On the day in question, Persaud was driving motor car PKK 8911 through a street next to where he lives, but could not enter his yard because the suspect had parked his cart, blocking his passageway.
Persaud reportedly exited his vehicle and asked the suspect to remove his cart, thus giving him clearance to enter his yard, but the suspect refused.
As a result, an argument ensued between the two men during which the suspect reportedly whipped out a cutlass and chopped the father twice to his neck, after which he fled the scene.
His wife had stated that she heard a noise and as she looked out, she heard the two men arguing while a cart belonging to Shepherd was blocking her husband from entering his yard. Soon after she witnessed her husband being stabbed.
“He run and jump in the car and drive out the street… one of his friends run out the old road and get another friend, and they jump in a bus. While they were going down, they saw him by Tank Street in Grove. The car was parked on the other side of the road, and he was lying unconscious”, the woman had told Guyana Times.
The woman related that Persaud’s friends moved him over to the back seat, and took him to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre for emergency treatment. However, while he was receiving medical attention, he passed.
Persaud’s wife added that her three-year-old son is left traumatised, since he witnessed his father being chopped.