…punctured lungs caused death

THEON Smith, the Mazaruni Prison inmate who was stabbed to death on Sunday by another prisoner died as a result of a stab wound to a lung, coupled with several other stab wounds.Yesterday a post-mortem was performed on the body proved that Smith was stabbed several times to the upper chest and to the right side of his chest. He also sustained a stab wound to a lung.
Meanwhile, his assailant, Akeem Edwards remains locked down at the very facility where the incident occurred, even as police and prison officers are trying to secure statements from several other inmates who may have witnessed the incident.
On Sunday, the two got into a heated argument over a missing phone which the deceased hid and could not locate same when he returned to its hiding place.
Approached for a comment on the entire incident and the status of the investigation, Police Commissioner (ag), Seelall Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that investigators are still working on the case.
The Commissioner of Police (ag) said that over the years, the Guyana Police Force and the Prison Service have been working to stem the practice of smuggling prohibited items beyond the prison gates. He said that over the years there has been smuggling of all kinds of weapons, drugs and other banned items into prisons around the world and Guyana is no exception.
The top cop said that from time to time there are coordinated searches at prisons which are conducted by both prison and police personnel, and items which should not be within the confines of the prison are unearthed.
In the past we have had to charge prisoners for being in possession of those items and a lot of work is being done at the level of the joint services to stem the practice of illegal items ending up in the hands of prisoners, he added that once prisoners have access to prohibited items, instances similar to Sunday’s incident or conflicts will occur.
Police and prison officers have since launched investigations to ascertain how a mobile phone and a knife ended up in the possession of two persons, who should have had no access to such instruments.

(By Leroy Smith)