The Barbados Police Service (TBPS) on Tuesday vowed to uncover the truth about the death of homeless man Albert John, even after an autopsy ruling that he died from natural causes rather than a beating he received earlier this month.
The man’s family has since retained a lawyer, rejected the findings of the post-mortem examination and a preliminary police investigation, and asked for a coroner’s inquest.
Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce told a press briefing at Police Headquarters on Tuesday that in the interest of transparency and to clear up any lingering doubt, TBPS is intent on going where all available evidence leads to ascertain if a crime was committed and who did it.
In a graphic account of the state of the deceased man’s internal organs and extremities, Boyce shared details with the public for the first time, including the pathologist’s finding that the injuries sustained from the beating were not life-threatening.
The police commissioner outlined the events that preceded John’s death at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He told reporters the circumstances started to unfold on November 2 on King Street, The City, where a young man named Andre Alleyne was walking along the road with a plastic bag of money in his pocket. When he reached the area of White Park Road, he realised the bag was missing.
The police chief said when Alleyne retraced his steps and inquired along the way, he met a woman who informed him she had seen the homeless man pick up the bag.
When confronted, John, who was Alleyne’s great uncle, denied ever finding the money.
The top cop told reporters that a heated exchange of words ensued between the two, and an unknown man from the crowd that had gathered struck John in the back with a piece of wood.
The deceased went to the QEH that same day, where he was seen by doctors for superficial injuries on his hand, thigh, and side. John was given medication and told to return to the hospital in a week but he did not turn up for that appointment.
On November 10, Commissioner Boyce said, an unknown individual passing White Park Road opposite the Supreme Court reported seeing John lying on the ground. He was taken to hospital by ambulance.
According to Boyce, John complained to the emergency ambulance technicians of being in pain. The commissioner said: “They observed he had some healing scratches on his body. They observed that he was sweating tremendously and he was complaining that his groin and penis were hurting. They noticed that he seemed to be dehydrated, and they gave him something to drink and took him to the hospital.
“He also mentioned to them that he was beaten by a person, not knowing the person’s name. While at QEH, he complained of finding difficulty in breathing. They noticed that his glucose level was very, very low, and he went into cardiac arrest and quickly passed away.”
It was at this point that Commissioner Boyce delved into the details of the November 13 autopsy findings.
He said: “The post mortem disclosed the same healing wounds which were mentioned previously. But the significant things that came out from the examination of the body was an enlarged scrotum and a penis. He also had a very tender stomach; and when intrusion was made to the body, it was found that he had tremendous inflammation in the body, in that he was in a decaying state where certain organs were concerned.”
“The intestines, the scrotum area, those areas were starting to decay. The post-mortem continued and the whole body was photographed, scratches and other things were noted, and the pathologist came to the conclusion, having examined the body, found that there was heavy, heavy evidence of gangrene, sepsis [blood poisoning] and other conditions relating to decaying aspects of his body.”
The police chief said the conclusion was that John’s cause of death was related to those things: “That is, swollen scrotum and also having that large bulge in that area, it constricted the blood vessels and then brought on sepsis and other conditions which I mentioned before. And because of that, it was ruled it was natural cause.
“Now, in terms of the injuries which persons spoke to, these injuries were deemed as non-life threatening in that they were not that grave or serious in terms of his mental condition and health condition because they were not of the magnitude that could have brought on the death of the deceased.”
Nevertheless, he said detectives carried out their own investigations, including the screening of CCTV footage, which did not advance the probe.
Boyce insisted that those inquiries will continue because the police service has a successful track record of dealing with cases of a similar nature.
“Once you are in that vulnerable bracket, we in the organisation at every opportunity that presents itself, have taken bold steps to make sure that justice is brought for those victims. So, all cases against the vulnerable community are treated with the utmost urgency and efficiency, and we intend to maintain that type of policing where those persons are concerned,” the commissioner declared.
“So, I want to assure members of the public and also persons who I would deem as social media influencers, that we in the organisation will continue our thrust in making sure that every name that is given to us, everything that is brought to our attention, in terms of this current incident, we will follow, in spite of the natural cause post mortem result.”
He added: “We still, in the interest of clarity, transparency and making sure that persons are held accountable for their actions, will continue to put emphasis in having this matter brought to conclusion, whereby members of the public would be satisfied that a complete and decent job was done where this victim, now deceased, is concerned.”
The commissioner appealed to anyone who may have information that can assist in this matter to bring it to “full light”.
“Work with us, give us the information, and let us make sure that the family rests peacefully and be satisfied that everything humanly possible was done by the police and also members of the community to bring this matter to a conclusion whereby everyone would be satisfied,” Boyce declared.
But John’s family pushed back with expressions of alarm at the commissioner’s report. They said they are in the process of raising funds to have an independent medical assessment of John’s body.
They have also hired attorney-at-law Verla DePeiza to represent them before a coroner’s inquiry.
DePeiza disclosed that she wrote the coroner on Monday requesting an inquest.
“The family finds the report of the commissioner of police to be alarming. The nature of the injuries is particularly distressing. They are committed to having, first, a coroner’s inquest and to raise the funds necessary for an independent assessment of the body,” the attorney told Barbados TODAY.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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