By FRANCIS JOSEPH
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) gave instructions on Wednesday to charge a 26-year-old man with the murder of Mercedes Layne, 12, who was beaten to death last Saturday.
Members of the Homicide Bureau, under ASP Anil Maraj, were advised to charge the suspect, of Dickie Trace, Palo Seco Beach Road, with Mercedes’ murder.
The suspect is expected to appear before a South High Court Master on Thursday. The charge was formally laid by Woman Corporal Dyer-Baptiste of the Region Three Homicide Bureau of Investigations.
On Saturday morning, Mercedes was placed in a PH taxi by her grandfather to go to her home which was literally four minutes away. CCTV footage later showed Mercedes entering a vehicle.
The driver turned into the correct road, but within seconds, reversed and continued with his journey. In the footage, Mercedes was seen in the back seat of the vehicle. That was the last time she was seen alive.
By 4 pm when Mercedes did not return home, a report was made to the Erin Police Station. Searches began by the TTPS and the Hunters Search and Rescue Team. The search continued into the night. It was not until 6.30 am on Sunday that workers checking on an oil well, stumbled on the dead body of the missing girl at Carapal Road, Erin.
The police found and seized the PH car under a tree. Within hours of the discovery of the body, Police arrested the suspect at his home at Palo Seco.
An autopsy performed on Monday at the Forensic Science Centre revealed that Mercedes was beaten to death.
Police continued their investigations on Monday and Tuesday, took statements from persons before they approved the Office of the DPP.
