LERON La Rose, a 21-year-old mentally challenged man of Williamsburg, Rose Hall Town in Berbice appeared on Friday last before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs Marcus charged with the unlawful killing of Sean Ricardo Pestano. He was remanded to prison.

While the defendant was not required to plea to the charge of murder, he muttered incoherently, which resulted in him being questioned by the Court.
Responding, La Rose said he visited the National Psychiatric Hospital on Wednesday last, mere hours before the fatal incident.
Additionally, he claimed of being institutionalised at the mental health hospital on four previous occasions.
Accordingly, the Magistrate has ordered a psychiatric analysis on the unrepresented defendant.

Particulars of the offence said, on Wednesday 22 April 2015, Larose murdered Sean Pestano under the Common Law.
The matter has been transferred to Albion Magistrate’s Court, where it is fixed for hearing on April 28.
Meanwhile, Police Sergeant Phillip Sherrif told the court that Pestano was drinking with friends, including the defendant killer, when they were engaged in a heated exchange of words.
The heated spat escalated, resulting in derogatory remarks concerning the suspect’s mother were uttered by the now deceased.
Sheriff said that, as a result, the defendant left the scene but returned with a cutlass which he used to inflict an incised wound to Pestano’s left leg.
The injured man was subsequently rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital where he died.
A post mortem report records death as shock and haemorrhage due to a severed femoral artery.
Prior to his death, Pestano was described as a model prisoner. He served a three-year sentence for a trafficking in narcotic charge. During his period of incarceration, he participated in various environment enhancement projects outside the prison walls. Amongst the organisations Pestano had lent his services was the Berbice Regional Health Authority where he had received a certificate of appreciation at the BHRA’s recently held awards ceremony.

By Jeune Bailey Vankeric