Ryan Bobb-Semple, the man accused of abducting and killing nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens, was yesterday arraigned in a city court on a murder charge.
Bobb-Semple was not required to plead to the charge, which stated that between April 1 and April 4, at Houston Backlands, East Bank Demerara, he murdered Gittens.
While Bobb-Semple stood in the dock waiting for his name to be called, he bent his head. However, when Magistrate Judy Latchman called his name he instantly stood up but remained silent when asked by the court if he wanted to rectify anything.
No details about the charge were presented and Bobb-Semple was unrepresented by attorney.
Bobb-Semple was remanded to prison until April 17, when he will reappear before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Gittens, of 2950 Well Road, North Ruimveldt went missing last Wednesday and his body was found three days later, half-naked and bound, in a trench running alongside a dam just off of Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt.
The boy was clad only in the t-shirt he was last seen in and his hands were tied together with rope.
From all indications, he was the victim of a sexual assault prior to his death.
An autopsy performed Wednesday on Gittens remains revealed that he died as a result of compression injury to the neck and asphyxiation due to drowning.
