Police allege that a man committed murder after cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet.
Keno Johnson, the man suspected of the murder of an unidentified man whose decaying corpse was found in bushes off Marshall Road last Wednesday, was wanted for a breach of his bail conditions, authorities confirmed.
The monitoring center detected that the bracelet assigned to 28-year-old Johnson of East Street South was removed a month ago, officials confirmed. Johnson, who is also known as ‘Bugs’, was being monitoring for a housebreaking charge, they said.
Police caught up with Johnson on November 28, but by that time they alleged he had committed murder.
Johnson made an initial appearance before Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez on the murder charge. Gomez informed Johnson that he was charged with the murder of an unknown man that occurred between November 15 and 28.
Police believe the murdered man is 32-year-old Khylilee Wallace, a witness in an attempted murder case who was last seen getting into a car with a friend on November 15.
Owing to the advanced state of decomposition, police are awaiting DNA tests to confirm the person’s identity.
Wallace’s family, who reported him missing on November 17, posted a death notice on television the day after the discovery of the body on November 28.
Johnson, who is represented by Jomo Campbell, was not required to enter a plea to the charge.
Johnson has been remanded into custody. He next appears in court on February 28, 2013. Prosecutors expect to transfer his case to the Supreme Court on that date.
By Artesia Davis
Guardian Senior Reporter
