Dorsetshire Hill woman’s murder still an active investigation – Commissioner
VICTIMS AND THEIR family members who have been touched by serious unsolved crimes, including homicides can rest assured that the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) is working to apprehend those responsible. That assurance came from Acting Commissioner of Police, Enville Williams as he spoke to SEARCHLIGHT in the wake of an article carried in its August 30, 2024 edition in which the brother of a murdered woman berated the police over their handling of the investigations.
Last week, James Ashton, the brother of Sherol Lenteria Phyllis Knights of Dorsetshire Hill vented to SEARCHLIGHT that in his opinion, investigators are bungling his sister’s murder investigation.
Knights was chopped and stabbed in July, 2023 in the home she shared with her father. At least two persons were questioned in relation to the murder of the 26 year old but no one has been charged.
Acting Commissioner of Police (COP), Enville Williams told SEARCHLIGHT last Wednesday that the RSVGPF understands grief.
“You always have to enter into the bereaved families’ feelings so when they think we are not working or we are not doing certain things, we are always working feverishly and looking at all the things we can do and all the roads we can walk,” the commissioner said on Wednesday.
Ashton told SEARCHLIGHT last week that family members, and some residents of the close-knit community in East Kingstown are confident that evidence points to one person being the culprit.
He said if the person who is suspected is not the one who killed his sister, that can be easily be proven as several pieces of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence were collected by police investigators at the crime scene and from the suspects, but to his knowledge the evidence is sitting in a room somewhere at the Central Police Station in Kingstown.
He spoke of an individual having had serious injuries and a chop wound on the leg who told investigators he fell from a tree. Ashton said the tree belonged to a family in the area who said they saw the person coming from under the tree but did not see him fall.
According to Ashton, the suspect said he dropped on his cutlass that was under the tree, but that cutlass was never found and that person was treated at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH but the police did not go to the hospital to investigate.
Ashton charged also that DNA evidence had not been processed and that he was told the money to conduct the DNA test in Jamaica was not available.
“That is wrong and false, investigators follow all leads and we always have to make sure that we have the right suspect,” Commissioner Williams said.
“I empathize and sympathize with them because I know they are hurting, but we have to do proper investigations and make sure there are no loopholes before we charge someone.”
Williams also pointed out that the comments by Ashton in relation to the DNA evidence and its handling, are not accurate.
He stressed that at all times, the Police follow leads and never stop actively pursuing unsolved crimes, especially serious incidents like homicides.
The commissioner said the Knights killing is still an active investigation and, “all matters are pursued with vigour and fervour”.
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