‘She was a good person’
• Mom confirms body pulled from sea in St James was her daughter Aneka ‘Slickianna’ Townsend • Police name person of interest in death of social media influencer
Published:Sunday | October 23, 2022 | 12:14 AMHopeton Bucknor - Sunday Gleaner Writer
The partially decomposing body of a woman that was retrieved from the sea in Reading in Montego Bay, St James, on Friday morning has been positively identified as popular Kingston-based social media influencer Aneka 'Slickianna' Townsend.
Her mother, Joy Smith, made the identification yesterday afternoon, the police confirmed.
When contacted, Smith told The Sunday Gleaner that “all I can say is that she was a good person, but I don't have any more comments at this time.”
Thirty-five-year-old Townsend, otherwise called 'Kayan' or ' Slickianna', resided at 11A Waterloo Road in Kingston 13, the St James police said.
They have named 33-year-old Rushane Patterson, otherwise called 'Chizzie' of Prospect district in Hanover, as a person of interest in Townsend's death.
“Patterson is being asked to turn himself over to the Freeport Police Station immediately. And anyone with information is being asked to call the police emergency at 119, JCF tip line at 811, or Crime Stop at 311,” the police said.
One police source told The Sunday Gleaner that based on investigations, it is believed that Townsend travelled to Montego Bay via a shuttle bus and met up with someone.
The police source said Townsend was reportedly recently seen with Patterson at a popular seafood restaurant in Sandy Bay, Hanover.
Yesterday, the police carried out an operation at his home in Harvey River, resulting in the seizure of his motor vehicle which is now being processed.
Reports are that about 9:30 a.m. on Friday, persons went to use the popular public bathing beach located in the vicinity of Ramson's in Reading, and discovered Townsend's body floating face down in the water.
The police were summoned, and Townsend's body was retrieved.
A cloth covered in blood and a female wig were also found at the location, while the body had what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the back of the head.
SUSPECT ABSCONDED BAIL
Patterson was listed as wanted on May 10 this year on three charges stemming from a decade ago but turned himself in to the police.
“Patterson was being sought by the police for absconding bail. He was to appear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on May 31 (2022), on charges of murder, attempted murder and rape,” a police source told The Sunday Gleaner.
It appears that the charges were restored after the case was thrown out in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in 2017 after prosecutors revealed that the primary witness could not be found.
In that particular case, it was presented to the court that about 4 a.m., on February 9, 2013, a female and her male partner were walking along Cargill Avenue in St Andrew when they were accosted by men in a motor car.
They were held at gunpoint, and the male tied up and placed in the trunk of the car, and the female placed inside the vehicle.
The male victim managed to jump from the moving vehicle but died, while the female was taken to an isolated location, raped and her throat slashed. She was left for dead but was discovered by a passer-by who assisted her to hospital where she was admitted in critical condition.
She recovered and later identified Patterson as one of the men who abducted and attempted to kill her, leading to his arrest and charge.