A 28-year-old municipal police constable has been charged with the murder of Acting Corporal Anuska Eversley, whose killing at the San Fernando Municipal Police Station shocked the nation and triggered a major criminal investigation.
Jivan Cooper, of La Sopie Trace, Cedar Hill, Claxton Bay was formally charged on Tuesday night following consultations between investigators of Homicide Region III and Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard.
Cooper also faces charges of robbery with violence, as well as firearms and ammunition offences in connection with the incident.
Eversley, 36, was found dead at the King’s Wharf, Lady Hailes Avenue station around 4:40 a.m. on Sunday after colleagues returned to the charge room area and discovered blood leading from her quarters. A subsequent check revealed her body lying motionless on a mattress.
Initial reports suggested she had been shot. However, Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said an autopsy has since determined that Eversley died from a beating and strangulation.
“The cause of death has been determined as strangulation, accompanied by blunt force and sharp force traumatic injuries to the body,” Guevarro said during a media briefing at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain.
The killing has been described by the Commissioner as “a shocking moment to the nation,” particularly as it occurred within a police facility.
The incident also coincided with the discovery that a quantity of firearms and ammunition had been removed from the station’s strong room, a development which investigators have described as a major security breach.
It is feared that more than 100 guns are missing from the station along with 4,000 rounds of ammunition. As of Tuesday, 38 guns have been recovered along with some ammunition.
Guevarro confirmed that six men, ranging in age from 16 to 33, remain in police custody as investigations continue.
