POLICE will likely be charging the city constable who shot and killed 34-year-old Marlon Fredericks on Sunday with manslaughter.

Legal advice was received on Wednesday and the constable is expected to face court today. A post-mortem revealed that the cause of death was as a result of complication to his lower back due to gunshot wound. Fredericks, of Tiger Bay, Georgetown, was wanted by the City Constabulary for a number of simple larceny transgressions, and was apprehended at Robb and King Streets, Georgetown on Saturday. However, during his apprehension he was kicked several times and assaulted.

Following the beating Fredericks received, he was treated and detained at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for observation, but was later released into the custody of the City Constabulary. While at that entity’s Bourda Outpost on Sunday, he attempted to flee custody and was shot as a result. His mother Claudette Fredericks had gone to visit him when she witnessed the shooting.

Eyewitnesses said his death could have been avoided, since he was in a weakened state and could not have run away; hence apprehending him should have been an easy task for the Lance Corporal. Claudette Fredericks said her son was a drug addict who had relapsed twice following stints at a rehabilitation facility. She said that seeing her son being brutally beaten while surrendering to the Police has been one of the most traumatising moments of her life. She said that because of the beating, her son had not eaten since he was taken into custody, and family members felt his death could have been avoided.