44th homicide victim was a creature of habit

Persons close to Deshawn “Toby” Slater believe that the habit he had cultivated of leaving his girlfriend’s Murray’s Village home in the wee hours of the morning may have made him an easy target for his enemies.

On Monday October 30, the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) launched an investigation into Slater’s death.

The 26-year-old labourer of Green Hill was at about 5.55 a.m., accosted, chased, and shot about his body by two masked gunmen in Paul Over.

The police say Slater ran over an embankment in McKies Hill, where he subsequently collapsed. A postmortem examination will be conducted on the deceased today Tuesday, October 31, 2023 to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Slater seems to not be new to violent interactions and situations. In February 2015, as a 17-year-old, he was sentenced to three years in prison after he claimed he found a gun while digging dasheen.

According to the facts, police were on patrol in Green Hill when Slater was seen walking on the public road. He was searched and a nylon sack he was carrying revealed an illegal firearm.

In court, Slater maintained the dasheen digging story and told the Chief Magistrate that he was on his way to turn the weapon over to the police when he was caught.

Then in August 2016, as a 19-year-old prisoner still serving time for the illegal firearm, Slater was charged with a murder that took place on October 20, 2014. He was accused of the murder of 23-year-old shopkeeper Aninka Stowe.

SEARCHLIGHT, in our issue of October 24, 2014, reported that Stowe died in the arms of her boyfriend Leon Small, moments after being shot twice while she made her way out of a shop at Green Hill.

Stowe was shot in her right shoulder and on the left side of her chest, in the presence of her eight-year-old daughter.

In April 2017, Slater was relieved of the murder charge by the Serious Offences Court as Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne noted that the case file was stuck at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Monday’s shooting is the 44th homicide for 2023 and investigators are asking anyone with information that can assist with this investigation to call 999/911 or 456-1810 or go to any police station or police officer they are comfortable with.

Investigators promise that all information received would be treated confidentially.