BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TABARI ROBERTS, the man who was in custody assisting police with their investigations into the shooting-death of 20-year-old Lamont Heyliger and 19-year-old Jahquan Merritt, was charged for the muder of the two young men.
According to a police release, the 35-year-old Roberts of Lower Thibou Avenue, McKnight was formally arrested and charged yesterday (Jan. 15) with the capital offence and was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison.
An earlier police communiqué had stated that sometime after 6:00 p.m. on Monday (Jan. 11), officers responded to a shooting incident in Lower Thibou Avenue and had found the motionless body Heyliger of hear Lane, McKnight with multiple gunshot wounds and Merritt of Fort Thomas Road with a single gunshot wound to his head.
The District Medical Officer had pronounced Heyliger dead at the scene, while Merritt was transported to the JNF General Hospital where he subsequently succumbed to his injury.
Police also said initial investigations had revealed that while Heyliger and Merritt were among a group of people at a location in Lower Thibou Avenue, a lone gunman rode up and shot the two young men.
Police, in a statement today, said that autopsies were performed yesterday on the bodies of the two young men by Resident Pathologist, Dr. Adrian Nuñez.
Dr. Nuñez concluded that Heyliger’s death was as a result of hypovolemic shock due to multiple gunshot wounds, while Merritt’s death was as a result of severe head injury due to a single gunshot wound to the head.
Heylliger and Merritt’s death are the first two homicides for the year following 10 recorded in 2020.
