Suspect fitting description of Alicia Foster’s killer held

A suspect fitting the description of the man who shot and killed Senior Environmental Officer Alicia Foster on Sunday was arrested yesterday morning, Acting Police Commis-sioner Henry Greene disclosed.

Alicia Foster
Alicia Foster

Greene was responding to questions from the media shortly before the commencement of the Guyana Police Force’s Annual Medal Presentation Ceremony held at the Tactical Services Unit Square, Eve Leary.

While stressing that last Sunday’s execution-style, David Street, Kitty murder is still under investigation, he told the media that “we picked up a suspect this morning. He is being interrogated at this point to see what evidence we may be able to produce from him. I can’t tell you where that is at this point in time but I know somebody fitting the description that was given to us was arrested this morning”.

Meanwhile police have ruled out robbery as the motive behind the fatal shooting of Foster and are following several leads as they struggle to solve the latest in a list of execution-style killings.

The woman’s family, close friends and colleagues continue to wonder what could have sparked the incident which cost the environmentalist her life.

She was shot in the face minutes after she drove up to her David Street, Kitty home after attending a wake with a younger sister. She was waiting on the sister to open the gate so she could drive in when a man went up to her car and demanded that she get out.

It was at this point that she was shot in the face and flung from the vehicle. The gunman then jumped into her car and drove away while his accomplice also fled the scene. A post-mortem examination conducted on Wednesday revealed that she died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. Foster is to be buried next Tuesday, a close relative told Stabroek News.

Many who knew Foster could only describe the incident as tragic and cold- blooded murder. Some spoke of her as someone who was making a difference in society and had a promising future ahead.

It was a little before 10 pm when James Foster responded to the persistent sounding of the buzzer and looked outside to see Alicia lying on the road. Reports are that the gunman and another man had been laying in wait, watching as Alicia pulled up opposite the home.

The day after the shooting around 9 am, the woman’s car PHH 2236 was found abandoned at Well Road, North Ruimveldt minus the keys.

The woman’s father James Foster had told Stabroek News that his daughter was not the victim of a carjacking or a robbery. He said nothing was taken from her except her life and he believed that something is amiss.

He had no answers at the time but said someday it would come to light. Meanwhile, he was prepared to let the police handle the matter.