Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie,” is now awaiting sentencing after a jury on Friday convicted him of the 2008 shooting death of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rank Ivor Williams.
Following hours of deliberations late yesterday afternoon, the 12-member panel returned a unanimous verdict, finding the accused guilty as charged.
It was alleged that he murdered the GDF rank on January 23, 2008.
Justice Sandil Kissoon, who presided over the trial at the Demerara High Court, however, deferred sentencing until Sep-tember 1, pending the presentation of a probation and other social impact reports.
Williams was represented by a battery of lawyers led by defence attorney Nigel Hughes, while the State’s case was presented by Prosecutors Latifah Ellior and Muntaz Ali.
It had been reported that Williams, 24, was shot in the left shoulder and the bullet exited the left side of his chest.
Two other persons were wounded in the shootout, which occurred between patrolling ranks of the GDF and gunmen.
An army patrol was making its rounds in the village of Buxton in the vicinity of the Railway Embankment when the ranks came under fire from a number of gunmen wielding assault rifles.
The soldiers returned fire and the exchange ensued.
Up to the time of Williams’ killing, the last casualty for the army by way of criminal elements had been in 2004, during a similar operation in Buxton.
Since the beginning of a crime spree in 2002 with the Mashramani Day jailbreak, over two dozen soldiers and police ranks lost their lives at the hands of criminals on the lower East Coast.
The police had been unable to control the situation, made worse with the 2006 disappearance of a large number of AK-47 rifles from Camp Ayanganna.
Williams is currently on death row after being convicted back in 2017 for his role in the 2008 Bartica massacre in which 12 men, including three police officers, were killed.
Williams and other accomplices, who were among the infamous gang led by Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins, were convicted and sentenced to death.
