Four years after Xavier Boyal was fatally shot at Puruni Landing, Cuyuni River, the man who confessed to killing him was on Friday sentenced to 15 years in jail for manslaughter.
Dein Evans, called ‘Rasta Beans’, 32, formerly of Charlestown, Georgetown, was sentenced by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Suddie High Court.
Last month, Evans, who was charged with the capital offence of murder, opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He admitted that on November 11, 2018, at Puruni Landing, he unlawfully killed Xavier Boyal.
Justice Sewnarine-Beharry handed down the 15-year sentence after considering the nature and gravity of the charge. The judge also took into consideration that Evans was allegedly operating a contraband business while in prison and had to be moved to another section. Nevertheless, she ordered that the prison authorities deduct from his sentence the time he spent on remand. He was represented by attorney-at-law Ravindra Mohabir, while the state was represented by prosecutor Tiffini Lyken.
Boyal, who was a pork knocker from Waramuri Mission, Moruca River, North West District, was fatally shot sometime between 3 and 3.45 on the morning in question at Puruni Landing.
It was reported in a police press release, that around 9 pm on November 10, Boyal left Rock Creek along with one of his co-workers, 20-year-old Orlando Marks, and they headed to Junior’s Disco, also located at Puruni Landing.
When they arrived, Marks allegedly had an altercation with an unknown man, which resulted in him being punched in his face. As a result, Boyal intervened and is reported to have pushed the assailant away. Shortly after, both Marks and Boyal left and were walking along the Puruni Road on the way to their camp.
Sometime after, the police said, 56-year-old Steve Underwood, a food vendor, was starting his car when the suspect entered the vehicle and instructed him to drive. While Underwood was driving, the man reportedly pulled out a black handgun from the waist of his pants, pointed the gun towards the windscreen and discharged a round in the direction of Boyal, who was walking along the side of the road. The windscreen shattered and Boyal instantly fell to the ground. Evans then exited the vehicle, allegedly discharged another round and escaped.
Police added that three gunshot wounds were seen on Boyal’s body: one above the abdomen, one under the right arm and another to the upper right side of his back.
This newspaper reported that Evans went into hiding for a month before he was apprehended and charged in December of that year.
