‘Brave’ charged for murdering daughter’s boyfriend
The man who is accused of murdering his son-in-law was on Thursday charged with the capital offence of murder and remanded to prison.
Forty-four-year-old Sherwayne Brandt also known as ‘Brave’ who is no stranger to the courts, was arrested at the Eugene Correia International Airport, Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD) while attempting to flee the country.
Brandt appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on February 18, 2022, at lot 211 Freeman Street, East La Penitence, Georgetown, he murdered 25-year-old Leon Gittens.
He was remanded to prison until March 22, 2022.
A Police report said the shooting incident occurred at midnight on February 18, last at Freeman Street, East La Penitence. It was reported that Gittens was in an intimate relationship with Brandt’s daughter which Brandt did not approve of and allegedly threatened Gittens earlier in January.
Dead: Leon Gittens
Police said on the night of the incident, Gittens went to the La Penitence location to pick up his girlfriend.
She told Police she observed her father dressed in a blue dress with a wig on his head and armed with a black handgun entering the yard. As she ran for cover, she heard three loud explosions similar to that of gunshots after which her father ran from the yard and made good his escape.
Upon checking, the woman said she saw Gittens lying motionless in front of a bedroom and an alarm was raised. The injured Gittens was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Hours after the fatal shooting, Brandt was arrested at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, Ogle, East Coast Demerara. He had booked a flight to the United States with an in-transit in Trinidad and Tobago.
He was then arrested and placed in custody.
Brandt is known to the police as he was committed to stand trial for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl in October of 2018. He was not required to plead to the charge which stated that on October 7, 2015, at Plum Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, he engaged in sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16.
