Police intensify probe, review CCTV footage

Attack on teacher
… victim remains unresponsive at GPHC

As the probe continues into the brutal beating of 22-year-old Richard Ishmael Secondary School teacher Kescia Branche, A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Commander Marlon Chapman confirmed that investigators were, up to late Monday afternoon, following several leads with the aim of finding the perpetrators. Branche suffered a broken left leg and multiple head injuries.

A source close to the investigation revealed that detectives were on Monday reviewing the CCTV footage at a popular Newtown night club where the woman was seen partying. She was later found unconscious in the vicinity of Princes Street and Louisa Row, Georgetown on Sunday morning. Other sources indicated that investigators took statements from family members and the friends who were with Branche in the moments prior to her attack. It was reported that she was in the company of a male, but Police were yet to hold any suspect for the crime.
Meanwhile, Commander Chapman related to Guyana Times that Police were seeking the assistance of the public to provide the authorities with any information they may have on the events that led to the young woman’s beating.
“It was a young woman and she didn’t deserve to be brutalised like that, so we are appealing to members of the public to come forward with any information they have,” he stressed.
This publication was told on Monday evening that Branche remained unresponsive and on life support at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Her father, Alfred Branche noted that family members were banding together in ‘hopes and prayers’ that his daughter’s situation would improve despite doctors reportedly indicating that there was “no improvement” in the school teacher’s condition. This newspaper was also told that, in fact, her condition may be deteriorating.
The mother of one, who resides in Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, was last seen by family members on Saturday evening, when she left for a night out with her friends. Her relatives are still in shock after receiving a phone call on Sunday morning informing them that the young teacher was unconscious at the medical facility.