Jury empanelled as bread vendor’s murder trial begins

A jury was recently empanelled in the murder trial of Neville Forde. The man is indicted for the 2017 murder of Sophia, Greater Georgetown bread vendor, Andre Alexander.

During his arraignment before Demerara High Court Judge Jo Ann Barlow, Forde pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that he murdered Alexander on May 5, 2017, during a robbery.
Alexander, formerly of C Field Sophia, was shot dead by two motorcycle bandits.
The robbers fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The father of two was reportedly shot once to the chest and succumbed while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Reports received revealed that the now dead man and his wife were in their shop when the two men approached on a motorcycle and requested three loaves of bread.
The pillion rider took out a $5000 bill to pay and while Alexander was in the process of making change, he whipped out a gun and demanded cash.

Upon seeing this, the man’s wife ran towards their home, which is a stone’s throw away, and raised an alarm. However, her husband refused to cooperate and the suspect grabbed the money he had in his hand and discharged several rounds in the process.
One of the bullets reportedly struck the bread vendor to the chest. Upon realising that the man was shot, the two young men escaped on the motorcycle.
Forde’s legal team is being led by Attorney-at-Law Ronald Daniels while Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave is appearing on behalf of the prosecution. (G1)