The three persons who were arrested last week in connection with the murder of eight-year-old Isaiah Smartt have been released from police custody, according to Commander of ‘A’ Division Marlon Chapman.
The commander said yesterday that while the trio was released, the police have to conduct further investigations into the murder.
Smartt, a pupil of the F E Pollard Primary School was pulled out of a trench located a short distance away from his Block ‘E’ Sophia home on the evening of June 20. He had been missing for a day and family members made several searches but came up empty-handed.
The police began to treat Smartt’s death as a murder when the results of a post-mortem examination revealed that he died as a result of asphyxiation due to broncho aspiration compounded by compression injuries to the neck.
The police had previously informed this newspaper that a cousin of the dead boy had discovered his body floating under a coat.
His cousin Shane De Mattos had seen the blue raincoat in the drain and when he took a stick and raised it, discovered the lifeless body of Smartt; the drain had about three feet of water.
Just before Smartt went missing, he was in the company of his sister Rashida Stoll at her residence. The sister reportedly fell asleep and did not see Smartt when she woke up. She told police that she made checks but was unable to locate him.
The boy’s mother, Joycelyn Tickett, had told Stabroek News that it was customary for Isaiah to visit his father’s home every day. She said it was not until an umbrella was discovered near the drain that they began to feel something was wrong. Her son’s lifeless body was later discovered in the same drain.
