AS investigations continue into the Emancipation Day execution-style killing of Laing Avenue resident Orin David, called “Plait Hair”, Police ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken has said that the police have been granted permission to detain the prime suspect for an extended period.Disclosing that the suspect is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday, Hicken explained that the suspect has been positively identified as one of the men who had fatally shot David at Laing Avenue on August 1.

The suspect was picked up and had his car impounded a day after the incident, and he is alleged to be the trigger man who killed David outside his home.

David was riddled with bullets by a group of men outside his Lot 89 Laing Avenue, Georgetown home after having a row with a friend who reportedly owed him some money.

Investigations revealed that David, 32, had earlier had an argument with one of the suspects over bail money, and the suspect left and returned with the other men. As the victim approached the vehicle containing the suspects, several shots were fired.

David was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital. One empty 12-gauge shotgun cartridge and a .32 spent shell were found at the scene of the shooting.

David was freed in February 2015 after being imprisoned for five years for the alleged 2010 murder of Mahaica farmer Lakhram Bishundial, who had been fatally shot during a robbery at Hope Turn, East Coast Demerara.

Bishundial was on his way home from a city bank, after he had withdrawn some money for his younger sibling’s wedding, when he was robbed and killed by two men.
David and another person, identified as Shawn Thom, were subsequently charged with Bishundial’s murder. Thom was freed a week before David.

David had been well known to the police because he had had several brushes with the law, including possession of an unlicensed firearm.