Badly beaten man who died in police custody identified
Apr 16, 2025
Kaieteur News- The identity of a badly beaten man who died in police custody is finally known after police asked the public for help five days ago.
The man has been identified as 37-year-old Delon Lawrence of Lot 10 De Kinderen Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara (WCD). He was identified by his sister after a picture of the dead man was posted on the Guyana Police Force’s Facebook page.
Dead: Delon Lawrence, who died in police custody after a brutal beating
“I went to the morgue and identified him myself; I was shocked and wanted to know if it was true,” the man’s sister told Kaieteur News.
Lawrence’s body was at Ezekiel’s Funeral Parlour awaiting identification.
He reportedly died on March 16 while in custody at the La Parfaite Harmonie Police Station, West Bank Demerara (WBD). A post-mortem examination has confirmed that Lawrence was beaten to death. The report stated that he died from a subdural hematoma due to blunt force trauma to the head.
His relatives are at this time calling on police to clarify the circumstances surrounding his beating because they are hearing two different versions.
According to his sister, the first version they heard from the police is that he allegedly stabbed two persons following a confrontation with a bus driver at La Grange Old Road, West Bank Demerara.
“They said he entered a 31 bus and had a confrontation with the driver at La Grange Old Road, and he stabbed a pregnant woman and a male,” the woman said, while adding, “They sounded the alarm and the villagers came out and beat him badly”.
A passing police patrol saw the commotion and reportedly rescued Lawrence from the mob, but took him to the La Parfaite Harmomie Police Station, where he died.
However, there is another version from a police officer alleging that he was beaten at Stanleytown, WBD, after he allegedly tried to rob two passengers in a route 31 minibus.
According to that version of events, Lawrence allegedly went berserk after an alarm was raised, stabbing a pregnant woman in the neck and a female passenger. Villagers at Stanleytown learnt of the attempted robbery and brutally beat Lawrence.
Like the first version, Lawrence was rescued by police and taken to the La Parfaite Harmonie Police Station, where he died in police custody.
Police are yet to release an official statement on Lawrence’s death.
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