A San Fernando magistrate has ordered that the teenager charged with the alleged kidnapping, murder and robbery of Dr Rudradeva Sharma be sent for a neurological assessment. The teenager, who cannot be named because he is a minor, reappeared before Senior Magistrate Jo-Anne Connor at the San Fernando First Court yesterday.
His attorney Chantal Paul said she wanted the teenager to be sent for a psychiatric evaluation and neurological assessment because he suffered a contusion of the brain in the accident which killed Sharma and the teenager’s alleged accomplice Akeem Marine.
Paul said the teenager had been discharged from the hospital on Wednesday and was prescribed medicine but still needed a neurological assessment.
Senior Magistrate Connor asked whether the teenager had shown any indication of needing a psychiatric evaluation before the kidnapping and murder of the doctor. She said the accused did not show any “disease of the mind ” and it was more prudent for him to undergo a neurological assessment. A psychiatric assessment could be done later on.
A neurological examination is the assessment of sensory neuron and motor responses, especially reflexes, to determine whether the nervous system is impaired.
The teenager is facing six charges, including murder, kidnapping and robbery along with co-accused Antonio Francois aged 19.
It is alleged that on January 15 at Rushworth Street Extension, San Fernando, the teenagers kidnapped Dr Sharma and his colleague Dr Vijai Naidoo and robbed them of their cellphones, as well as Sharma’s Honda CRV valued at $120,000. It is further alleged that at the Solomon Hochoy Highway near the Macaulay Flyover, he murdered Sharma and Marine, both of whom died when Sharma’s vehicle crashed along the highway.
The charges were laid by Cpl Angelene Basarath.
Magistrate Connor ordered the teenager to reappear in court on February 20, the same day Francois is scheduled to reappear.
