A MAN has been arrested and is in police custody as investigations continue into the killing of nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens of 2950 North Ruimveldt, who was found dead and floating in a North Ruimveldt canal on Saturday, a few days after he went missing.Crime Chief Leslie James confirmed that a 22-year-old man from the area was arrested after he supplied information to the police which effectively placed him at the crime scene.
According to the Crime Chief they are looking for another suspect in the murder.
A post-mortem was performed yesterday on the boy’s body and the cause of death was given as compression injury to the neck and asphyxiation due to drowning. However, there were no checks to see if the young man was sodomised.
On the day the young man was last seen, persons said that he was in the area flying his kite with other youngsters from the North Ruimveldt community.
His body was found on Saturday several miles into the ‘backdam’ with his pants missing and his jersey rolled up to his chest. He appeared to have been in the water for some time as his body was already bloated and there was a stench.
When relatives received news about the bloated body, which at the time had not been confirmed as the nine-year-old boy, they were still out looking for the missing boy.
His mother was even thrown off course when a strange call was received informing her that her son’s body was found somewhere in Region 3.
When this publication visited the scene in North Ruimveldt on Saturday afternoon, it was observed that the child’s body was floating face down in the canal and his pants and briefs were missing while the jersey that he was last wearing was rolled up to his chest.
The discovery of the body angered several persons from the community who vowed to avenge the child’s killing.

By Leroy Smith