FOUR men will stand trial for the murder of a six-year-old girl who died in a house fire in 2016.
Akil Elder, 34, Ako John, 33, Akeido Edwards, 30, And Kashaun Boyce, 27, appeared virtually before Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle on Tuesday.
They were committed to stand trial after the preliminary inquiry into the death of Paris Griffith, six, the attempted murder of her mother and arson.
The men were charged between December 18, 2019, and June 7, 2020 with murder, attempted murder, and setting a dwelling house on fire with persons therein were committed to stand trial for the offences.
According to reports, on the morning of Saturday, August 20, 2016, a woman was at home with her daughter in their wooden structure dwelling house at Straker Village, Laventille, when she realised the house was engulfed in flames.
The woman escaped through a space at the side of the front door of the house but was unable to secure her daughter’s escape.
Residents were also unsuccessful in their attempts to rescue the child.
Members of the Cold Case Unit pursued the investigation in 2018. It resulted in four suspects being charged by the lead investigator acting Sgt Sheldon Narine for the offences based on instructions received from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard, SC.
