by Linda Straker
- Shaka Croney arrested and charged with death of Kendon Berkeley
- Kino Coutain, charged for shooting death of Troy Daniels
7 days after his burial, Police announced an arrest in the death of Kendon Berkeley who was discovered at his home in St Andrew on 14 July 2023. He is one of several unsolved homicides which occurred between June and July.
“Shaka Croney, 26 years of age of Telescope, St Andrew, was arrested and charged for the gruesome death of schoolteacher Kendon Berkeley,” announced Vannie Curwen, Assistant Commissioner of Police, with responsibility for Crimes, during a news conference on Tuesday, 12 September 2023.
Croney was one of several people detained and questioned during the early days of Berkeley’s investigation, however, Curwen did not explain what led to the arrest.
Police also announced the arrest of another man charged with the death of Troy Daniels, who died as a result of gun-related violence on the weekend. “I now wish to announce to the public that the criminal investigations department has arrested and charged Kino Coutain, a 29-year-old shopkeeper of Grand Anse, St George, for the shooting death that occurred in St Paul’s on Saturday last,” Curwen said.
“Both defendants will make their first court appearance later this week,” he added.
To date, Grenada has recorded 17 homicides for 2023. The latest is Dexter Chance who was gunned down in daylight on 11 September in the fishing village of Woburn, St George. Police refrained from speaking about the status of the matter under active investigation. In 2019, Chance was one of 4 men facing charges linked to a EC$4 million cocaine bust. The men were nabbed with 40 kilos of cocaine during a joint police operation on Wednesday, 21 August.
In 2020, the Prosecution charged Chance and the other co-accused became state witnesses whereby they sought to implicate Chance as the ringleader. Chance’s trial began on Monday, 27 June 2022 with George Prime as his lawyer. The trial ended on Wednesday, 13 July 2022 and the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty against Chance.
Well done to our police in relation to the two arrest made for those crimes on the island but we must not forget how poor some of our police been with other issues like evidence disappearing etc.
The RGPF needs a total overhaul with some new blood and a strong foundation to build on.
They have to stop allowing our police officers from taking part in private events like dance,concerts etc .
These events must use private security which we have many on the island and let the police do ….police work like solving murder and crime prevention.