TWENTY-ONE -year-old Joseph James, who was being investigated by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in relation to the death of his 4-year-old stepson, was, on Thursday, October 17, 2019, remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

The man, a logger of Silver Hill, Linden, Soesdyke Highway, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that, on October 7, 2019, at Silver Hill, Linden, he murdered Alex Prince, his stepson, during the course of a rape.

According to reports, the child was left in the care of his stepfather but was later found lying, nude, in an unconscious state at their Silver Hill home. However, the child’s stepfather alleged that he left the child at home to go to a nearby shop to buy groceries to cook, and, when he returned from the shop, he found the child unconscious.
An alarm was raised and the child was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The matter was reported to the police, and, following an investigation, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) advised that James be charged for the murder of the young child.
A post mortem (PM) conducted revealed that the child was sexually assaulted and died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Chief Magistrate McLennan remanded James to prison and transferred the matter to the Linden Magistrates’ Court for October, 23, 2019.