Final accused in murder of Sophia bread vendor found not guilty

Andre Melroy Alexander; Neville Forte

Neville Forte, the final accused in the 2017 murder of Sophia, Greater Georgetown bread vendor, Andre Melroy Alexander, was found not guilty of the crime by a 12-member jury at the High Court in Demerara on Tuesday.

Forte, also of Sophia, was arraigned before Justice Jo Ann Barlow earlier this month. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on May 5, 2017, at Sophia, he murdered Alexander, 42, during the course of a robbery.

Following the jury’s verdict, Forte, who was represented by Attorneys-at-Law Ronald Daniels and Kiswana Jefford, was informed by the Judge that he was discharged and free to go. Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave led the case for the prosecution.

Alexander, called ‘Alex’ and ‘Bread Man,’ a father of two of Section C, Sophia, succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital hours after he was shot by two men, who posed as customers and held him at gunpoint.

The incident took place at the man’s bread stand. In 2019, another man, Shaquille Grant called ‘Soldier Man’, who had been jointly charged with Forte for Alexander’s murder, was freed after another Judge upheld a no-case submission.