Suspect in murder of schoolgirl hospitalised following arrest

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC):

Police Commissioner, Clayton Fernander, says the main suspect in the brutal murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl remains under “heavy guard” in hospital after after being injured during a fight with arresting officers.

Police said that Adriel Moxey, a seventh-grade student at Anatol Rodgers High School, was found dead in bushes last Wednesday, a day after she was reported missing. They said she was wearing only a shirt, with a cloth tied around her neck.

Fernander told a news conference that the child had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. He told reporters she was not wearing a uniform, and police were still trying to locate her school belongings.

The top cop said that the main suspect, a 32-year-old man is a known patient of Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre that provides psychiatric, geriatric and substance abuse service.

He said the suspect is now a patient at the Princess Margaret Hospital and will be taken to Sandilands for evaluation upon his release.

“Officers are watching there like 24 hours. We know that we are unable to speak to him. At this time, the doctor is saying that we are unable to speak to him because of his (mental) condition.”

“We will wait for the doctor to indicate to us when it’s a good time, or if the investigators are able to speak with him if he’s in sound mind to really answer questions put together. So that’s why the DNA evidence is so crucial in that matter, and we are moving quickly to do just that,” Fernander said, adding that the police are preparing DNA evidence from the victim and the suspect for testing overseas.