BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LESS than 48 hours after the shooting-death of Trevis Henville, officers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) have successfully made a breakthrough with the arrest of two young men.
Charged with murder are 24-year-old Lennox ‘Len’ Gumbs of St. Johnson Village and 20-year-old Randy Taylor of Taylor’s Village.
According to Police PRO Sergeant Stephen Hector, the two men were formally arrested and charged on Wednesday (Apr. 18) with the heinous crime.
Hector stated that the success of the men’s arrest resulted from a collaborative effort between members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Intelligence Units of the RSCNPF who had mounted surveillance exercises in an effort to locate the assailants.
“Inspector Charles Smithen of the Criminal Investigation Department reported that the collaborative efforts of the joint forces have resulted in this murder being detected within 48 hours of the incident,” Hector said.
He noted that the Commissioner of Police, Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn, is pleased with the recent success gained by Inspector Smithen and the new CID but sees it as one in which praise and commendation is owed to the ordinary citizens of the community.
“It is as a direct result of the communities confidence, support and, most importantly, their heightened interest of having the streets of our Federation recaptured by the police and returned why we as an agency is succeeding.
“We are truly appreciative of the support given by all persons but we urge you to maintain the support given as we channel our energies in tandem with social groups and social professionals beyond that of mere detection and into the realm of crime prevention strategies for the remainder of 2012,” the PRO added.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday (Apr. 17), Henville was shot to death esecution-style on Shaw Avenue in McKnight.
On arrival at the scene, this publication had observed his body lying motionless on the street, some 50 metres south of Cayon Street, with multiple gunshot wounds to the back, chest and buttocks.
The 19-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene by District Medical Officer Dr. Reginald O’Loughlin and the body was removed by undertakers from Jenkins Funeral Home under police escort.
Some residents in the area claimed to have heard about nine shots being fired and this was confirmed from the amount of yellow plastic markers placed at various points by Crime Scene Technicians to indicate the location of spent shells, which they took into custody for forensic analysis.
Henville’s death has taken to six the number of murders committed in the twin-island Federation for the year; five on St. Kitts and one on Nevis.
