Crime
American Tourist Beaten in Turks and Caicos, suspect out on bail
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 24, 2024 – A tourist woman was left with severe bruises and possible visual impairment and hearing loss, after being beaten by a man, while on a birthday trip in the Turks and Caicos.
The reason behind her assault is unknown, and it’s now public concern among Turks and Caicos residents as well as tourists, that there are people out there willing to physically abuse someone, especially to this degree.
The victim, Suyapa Ramos from New Jersey, who describes fighting for her life, was interviewed on abc7NY and she detailed the
events leading up to her assault.
She expressed she was at a bar the last night of her trip and after hours, ready to go back to her hotel, was trying to find a taxi with little luck.
“I believe after about 10, they (taxis) don’t run, and that was something that I found out the hard way.”
Ramos continued, highlighting that she met someone who said he was a taxi driver and took his word for it. In fact, people at the bar seemingly knew the guy by the name of Davidson Martin, which to her was even more reason to trust she would be safe.
On their way to the hotel, she claimed he suddenly attacked her in the car, the scariest thing she’d ever had to encounter, she said.
While Martin mercilessly beat Ramos, he reportedly made growling sounds, she explained in her interview. And, contrasting to public opinion, Ramos says he didn’t make any sexual advances.
Fortunately Ramos, 48 years old, was able to escape and Martin, 29 years old, was arrested two days later.
A police release informs that Ramos arrived at a health facility on Sunday March 10 and on March 13th, Martin was arrested by Safeguarding and Public Protection officers under sections 10 of the Offenses Against the Person Ordinance.
The release says he appeared before a Magistrate on March 15th, 2024, and charged with one count of Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm.
While officials have not commented publicly on the incident, the TCI public wants it to be known that the attacker was not a taxi driver. The man arrested, charged and released is an illegal jitney operator.
Illegal jitney drivers are not licensed and their drivers are unregistered and therefore unknown to the public service drivers’ regulator.
Warnings are currently in effect about use of these illegal modes of transport, despite their enormous popularity and convenience,
especially to people who need to get around at night.
For the Turks and Caicos, a sought after tourist destination in the Caribbean, this is another stain on its reputation as the past two years has seen an increase in crime rate per capita, from low numbers, to numbers that now rival those of some of the most violent places in the world.
Tourists are being attacked in their villas and just recently, a family was held at gunpoint, the father robbed of over $20,000 thousand dollars worth of cash and jewelry.
Despite these unfortunate developments, the Turks and Caicos is seeing record breaking numbers in arrivals, up nearly 13 percent, for the first two months of 2024, according to a report by the Ministry of Tourism, released this week.
UPDATED
***MEDIA RELEASE***
Turks and Caicos, November 27, 2024 – The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RT&CIPF) acknowledges the conclusion of the Supreme Court trial of Rex v. Andre DeSouza, which resulted in convictions and sentencing for three serious offences.
At yesterday’s (November 26th) sentencing hearing, the court imposed the following penalties on
Mr DeSouza, a Jamaican national, also called “Killy Killy”:
- Carrying Firearm – Seven (7) years imprisonment
- Carrying Ammunition – Seven (7) years imprisonment
Overstaying Leave to Remain in the TCI – Two (2) months’ imprisosonment
The sentences will run concurrently. Additionally, a deportation order will be enforced upon the completion of his sentence.
The convictions stem from an incident on September 21, 2022, during a police investigation in the Lofton Morley area where Mr DeSouza attempted to evade officers and brandished a firearm.
A loaded Taurus Millennium G2 9mm pistol with its serial number erased, along with ammunition, was recovered.
Superintendent (Crime, Safeguarding and Public Protection and Intelligence) Dean Holden expressed gratitude for the professionalism and dedication of the officers involved in this case’s investigation, arrest, and prosecution.
Superintendent Holden said, “The sentencing of Andre DeSouza underscores the RTCIPF’s unwavering commitment to upholding the law and ensuring the safety of our community. I commend the diligence and bravery of the officers involved in this case. Their efforts continue to demonstrate the high standards of service and dedication within the RTCIPF.
“The sentence ordered by the court in this case is the maximum sentence under the Firearms Ordinance that was in force when the offence was committed in September 2022. In October 2022, the Ordinance was amended with an increase in sentencing powers to 12 years imprisonment; however, as this offence was committed earlier than that, the court had to refer to the previous ordinance and the lesser sentencing power.”
Anyone with information on illegal activities is asked to contact the closest police station, 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 to provide information anonymously.
Additionally, individuals are encouraged to download the Crime Stoppers P3 app to share information.
Turks and Caicos, 18th November 2024
JOVOUGHN ALEXSTAIR GREEN, of Dock Yard, Providenciales, has been remanded in custody pending a Sufficiency Hearing on
January 10, 2025.
Mr Green alias “Brim” and “Brimmy, 29, was charged on November 02nd with the following offences:
One Count Possession of a Firearm
One Count Possession of Ammunition
One Count Possession of Controlled Drug
The charges against Mr. Green were laid following an incident on October 30, 2024, during Operation MIGHT near Dock Yard.
Wilkie Arthur
Eagle Legal News Media
(Wednesday, November 20th, 2024) Turks and Caicos Islands – It happened on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 around midnight. A wife waiting on her husband to come pick her up from work, reports that he never showed up.
She became very concerned when she was calling his cell phone, and he wasn’t answering. She explained that she called the police on 911 and made the report.
When she contacted other family and friends of the family, they told her that her husband had left in his blue Honda Fit car around 6 that
evening and hadn’t been seen since.
The husband never made it home that night, and the wife and other concerned loved ones say they couldn’t sleep and sat up awaiting his return home.
The following day, Wednesday, November 13, the husband was found by police at the Cheshire Hall Medical Center undergoing medical treatment. Everyone would soon learn that the traumatic events of the night before deeply distressing; the man was admitted to hospital with inordinately high pressure
He told hospital staff and law enforcement that he went to Dock Yard and dropped off two of his Haitian workers who worked construction with him at the Palms. The male victim said, upon leaving, he was stopped and pulled from his car by three armed men.
One of the men took the driver’s seat while the others cloaked his head and tied him up. He said they drove off and dumped him in the bushes; he’d find he was in an area known as Yard.
He said the three masked men drove off without physically harming him ( thanks be to God ) with his car, wallet, and lots of his expensive electrical and other work tools in the car. He said he was able to bite loose the ties and ran discreetly asking for a ride to the hospital because he was feeling extremely sick, dizzy, and weak.
Up to press time, Eagle Legal News still has not received information on this frightening report.
It’s also unclear if the blue coloured Honda Fit, which the husband was driving,
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