Taxi driver admits to driving getaway car in teen’s murder

Melroy Doris, the taxi driver who is charged with the July 10, 2014 murder of 19-year-old cosmetologist Ashmini Harriram of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter before Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Demerara High Court.
State Prosecutor Tyra Bakker had initially indicted Doris for the capital offence of murder.

Following the guilty plea, Doris, who was represented by Stanley Moore, SC, was further remanded to prison until March 25, 2021, when he will be sentenced after the presentation of a probation report.
Prosecutor Bakker told the court that Doris was arrested for the murder on September 2, 2014. She told the court
that on the day of the offence, Harriram, also known as “Monisha Harriam”, and her cousin were walking along the Lusignan Public Road, ECD when they noticed a burgundy Toyota 212 motorcar bearing registration number PRR 8370 parked along the said road. The Prosecutor detailed that a few minutes later the teenager was shot to her head, and the car drove off.
According to Bakker, when Doris was arrested, he gave a caution statement in which he admitted that he was the getaway driver. A post mortem examination revealed that Harriram died as a result of respiratory failure and gunshot injuries to the spine.

Meanwhile, Lennox Wayne, who was jointly charged with Doris for the teen’s murder, is still awaiting trial for the offence. According to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Wayne, also known as “Two Colours”, had, in November 2020, indicated to the State that he wanted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. The murder accused, however, changed his decision, the DPP Chambers disclosed.
Reports are that Wayne is not pleased with the prison term being offered by the court.
Wayne was first charged with the murder in 2014, and was remanded to prison. His lawyers – Nigel Hughes and Ronald Daniels – have since filed a constitutional motion asking for a permanent stay of the murder proceedings against their client. Among other things, Wayne is also suing the State for more than $100,000 in damages for a breach of his fundamental right to a fair trial within a reasonable time.

According to court documents seen by this publication, Wayne deposes that he was first tried for the offence in 2017, and that trial ended in a hung jury. Accordingly, he stated that the trial judge ordered a retrial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. The murder accused has said that, four years later, he is yet to be brought before a judge and jury.
Wayne pointed out that although his name had been listed on the Demerara Criminal Assizes for retrial in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, his case has not been called. In the circumstances, he is asking the High Court to admit him to bail pending the hearing and determination of the constitutional proceedings.
He is also seeking a declaration that his fundamental right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, as guaranteed under Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana, has been breached as a result of the lengthy delay in his retrial.
The motion comes up for hearing before Justice Navindra Singh on March 23, 2021 at the High Court in Demerara. (G1)