Female market vendor among 3 in custody for fatal shooting of West Ruimveldt woman

– Minister Walrond praises Govt’s Smart City initiative for breakthrough
– reiterates need for Police-citizen partnerships

Three individuals, including a 25-year-old female market vendor, were taken into custody on Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Faynel Brewster at her West Ruimveldt, Georgetown home on Sunday evening
According to Police, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that prior to the incident, the victim’s brother was being pursued by two men on a black Honda XR motorcycle.
Authorities were able to trace the suspects’ movements before and after the shooting using the Government’s Smart City Surveillance Cameras.
A Police operation subsequently led officers to a house at Morcourt Square, East La Penitence, Georgetown. There, 27-year-old Shaquile Wilburg and 28-year-old Akande Ross were arrested. The female vendor was also detained.
Wilburg and Ross are no strangers to law enforcement. In 2018, Wilburg was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a $3.3 million armed robbery of a businessman in the vicinity of the National Insurance Scheme on Brickdam.

In 2020, Akande Ross was charged with robbery under arms.
However, during a search of the premises, Police discovered 50 live rounds of 9mm ammunition and a black Honda XR motorcycle believed to have been used in the commission of the crime. All three suspects remain in custody and are assisting investigators, who continue to pursue additional leads.
Following the arrests, Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond praised the Smart City initiative, crediting it for the swift breakthrough in the case.
Speaking during an interview on Boom FM’s morning show Jump Start, she stated, “There is no longer a Policeman suspecting or not suspecting and thereby turning up at somebody’s house and upturning it and all of these things… now there is the Safe City Program, which the Government has implemented and continues to reinforce in crime fighting… the perpetrators’ faces are now caught on camera, which removes human bias.”
She further added, “You know you have this situation where the neighbours would come out and swear for the perpetrators and would play on people’s emotions; ‘oh, he is a good boy’, or ‘oh, she is a good girl’, but with the cameras, all of those things are being removed because the crime has been caught on camera and they are now in custody.”
While lamenting the tragic manner in which Brewster was killed, Walrond commended the Police for their dedication to bringing the suspects to justice. She also reiterated that the Smart City CCTV initiative operates as a 24-hour surveillance system.
Regarding the broader crime situation, the Minister acknowledged that more work is needed to improve safety across the country. “When I met with the commanders, there was a consensus among us to make Guyana a safe and secure country and safe and secure communities, and it starts from the level of the family and the different communities and regions. People want to feel secure, and people want to be able to walk down the streets with their children and not have to worry about the kind of jewellery they wear.”
She also emphasised timely Police responses to crime and reports can alleviate the gap between the Guyana Police Force and the public.
“If something does go wrong, people want to feel that they can trust the Police as a force that cares and that they can respond to me. This message was delivered loud and clear to the commission and the commanders that you can’t claim to have authority when people don’t trust you… It is about partnership; you undermine your authority if people don’t trust you. I believe that the tone has been set in my several interactions with the commanders and commissioner.”
The Minister noted that crime statistics show a decline but stressed the importance of further reduction.
Police reports stated that Brewster was shot dead during an attempted robbery targeting her brother, a businessman, who had just returned home on the day in question. While in the yard, her brother was approached by two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm and attempted to rob him of his motorcycle and gold chains.
He reportedly put up a fight, thus leading to a scuffle among them. Meanwhile, during the fight, the armed suspect reportedly discharged multiple rounds, one of which struck the victim in her upper right arm and another in her lower left chest.
She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where she was pronounced dead on arrival.