BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SHAQUIEL LIBURD, the young man who was taken into custody to assist the police in their investigations into the stabbing-death of 77-year-old Constance Thompson-Gumbs of Conaree Village, was charged with Murder.
According to a police communiqué, Liburd was yesterday (Jun. 27) formally charged and cautioned for the capital offence and has since been remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison.
In a previous communiqué, it was reported that at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29, 2019, police received a report that a body was found in a house at Conaree Village.
On arrival, the officers saw the motionless body of Thompson-Gumbs lying in the living room of her home with multiple stab wounds.
The District Medical Officer, Dr. Maria Warner, was summoned to the scene and pronounced Thompson dead, while personnel from the Forensic Unit processed the scene and took items of evidential value into custody.
Liburd, who also resided in Conaree Village, was taken into custody to assist police with their investigation into the matter, as investigations were ongoing.
Constance Thompson-Gumbs’ death had taken to 11 the number of homicides committed in the twin-island Federation for the year; two on Nevis and nine on St. Kitts.
This is not the first time that the 22-year-old have had brushes with the law.
On Thursday, March 29, 2012, when he was a mere 15-year-old, Liburd and the then 22-year-old Xavier Phillip were found guilty on two counts each of Shooting at with Intent.
They had appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas and were sentenced to serve time in prison for shooting at police officers in the vicinity of Canada Industrial Site on January 19, 2011.
Before passing sentence, Justice Thomas took into consideration “unique situation” of an adult and a juvenile, the nature of the offence and the fact that they both had no previous conviction.
He said, “Shooting at police officers is not a matter to be taken lightly. That has potential to break down an entire society. When we have people out there shooting at police, where do we go from there? Those are the persons required to uphold the law and you out there shooting at them!
“It is one thing when you shoot at police while they were parked, but when they gave chase and you continued to shoot at them you could not say you did not know who you were shooting at. You knew what you were doing.”
Liburd was sentenced to two years on each count, which had run concurrently, while Phillip was sentenced to five years in prison on each count, which also ran concurrently.
However, the time they spent on remand was taken into consideration and Liburd only had to serve two months in prison.
