Man, 23, charged with murder of 7-Y-O Adriel Mohamed

Shaeed Mohammed, called ‘Max’, was on Tuesday charged with the brutal murder of seven-year-old Adriel Aftab Mohamed.

Mohammed, a 23-year-old resident of Providence, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

It was alleged that on June 5, 2026, at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, Mohammed murdered the child. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge. The matter was adjourned to July 20, 2026, for a report on statements.

The charge was instituted after investigators received legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Mohammed was arrested on Saturday and reportedly confessed to the crime.

Deputy Commissioner and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had previously disclosed that detectives secured digital evidence linking the suspect to the crime scene at the time of the attack. According to Blanhum, when confronted with the evidence, the 23-year-old admitted to the offence and provided investigators with details of what occurred.

Adriel was killed on the morning of June 5 while at home with his 72-year-old great-grandmother. The elderly woman was also seriously injured during the attack and remains under medical care.

A post-mortem examination conducted on Monday found that the child died as a result of an incised wound to the neck. Investigators also observed evidence of both sharp and blunt force injuries on the boy’s body, injuries consistent with the use of a knife.

Police recovered a knife from the crime scene, which investigators said the suspect identified as the weapon used to kill the child and injure his great-grandmother.

Meanwhile, relatives have dismissed claims that Shaeed Mohammed is related to anyone in the family.

Speaking with the News Room after the court hearing on Tuesday, the child’s uncle, Naseeb Mohamed, said the family has no relationship with the 23-year-old accused and does not know him personally.

“I hearing that for a while now. Whoever want to believe that, let them come and prove that. I don’t know that man, I never see him before.

‘That guy is heartless. He is not related to us,” Naseeb told the News Room.
He explained that only after seeing the suspect for the first time in court on Tuesday that while Adriel’s father recalled seeing the suspect around the community at a shop near his mother’s home sometime.

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