‘Slickianna’ murder accused fails again to secure bail
Published:Monday | June 17, 2024 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Rushawn Patterson, the man charged in connection with the October 2022 murder of social media influencer Aneika ‘Slickianna’ Townsend, has once again been denied bail following his latest appearance in the St James Circuit Court last Thursday.
Patterson, who is represented by attorney Dionne Meyler-Barrett, was remanded after his most recent bail application, made through his lawyer, was refused. He is set to be brought back to court on September 23.
There have been at least two attempts to secure bail for Patterson, the first one taking place on March 21 last year and the second application being made months later, on October 4. Patterson’s last noted court date following those two appearances was on December 19.
Patterson’s first bail application on March 21, 2023, was rejected by presiding High Court Justice Andrea Thomas after the prosecution pointed to correspondence that the defendant reportedly made to Rohan Rose, who is separately charged with misprision of a felony for not reporting the crime to the police, indicating that Patterson had killed Townsend on October 21, 2022.
The application was rejected despite attorney Meyler-Barrett arguing that her client’s health and safety would be compromised if he remained in custody, citing an alleged attempt to put glass in his porridge, which he was provided among his meals.
During the second bail application on October 4, 2023, Meyler-Barrett told High Court Justice Judith Pusey that Patterson had secured a no-evidence motion from the Half-Way Tree Criminal Court in relation to an unrelated assault case from 2018 in which he reportedly attacked a woman after a jealous rage.
Flight risk
However, Pusey rejected that application due to concerns that Patterson was a likely flight risk and could potentially reoffend if granted bail.
Patterson was arrested on November 2, 2022, during a high-level police operation after Townsend’s body was found floating in the sea in Reading, St James, on October 21 that year.
A subsequent post-mortem examination, three days later on November 5, determined that Townsend had been strangled, with the death occurring sometime between 11 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, and 9 a.m. on Friday, October 21. Patterson was then formally charged with her murder on November 11.
According to police reports, Townsend had travelled from Kingston to Montego Bay on October 20, 2022, and was later picked up by Patterson, following which they visited a restaurant in Hanover and a guest house in St James. Sometime during the night, an argument developed between the two, following which Townsend was strangled and her body disposed of.
Prior to Patterson’s first failed bail application on March 21, 2023, his bail hearing was initially scheduled for December 15, 2022, at which time he was represented by attorney Michelle Thomas. The hearing was put off to March 9, 2023, due to several documents being outstanding from the prosecution’s case-file at that time.
When the hearing date came up on March 9, 2023, it was rescheduled again to March 21 that year because Patterson had retained Meyler-Barrett as his new lawyer at that point.