Rushawn Patterson charged with Slickianna’s murder

The St James Police have charged 33-year-old Rushawn Patterson, otherwise called ‘Chizzie’, of a Harvey River in Hanover, with the murder of 35-year-old social media influencer, Aneka Townsend, otherwise called ‘Kayan’ or ‘Slickianna’.

Townsend’s body was retrieved by the Marine Police from the sea in the Reading area of St James on October 21, 2022.

A post-mortem examination of her body, conducted on November 5, concluded that her death was caused by strangulation.

The police said in a release Friday that the post-mortem estimates that Townsend was killed sometime between 11pm October 20 and 9am October 21.

“During the course of this investigation, an abundance of forensic, cyber-forensic, and other technical evidence has been collected. 

Following consultations with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the JCF Legal Services Division, Patterson was formally charged with murder this afternoon (November 11, 2022),” the police said in its release.

According to the police, on October 20, Townsend traveled from Kingston to Montego Bay, St James, where she was picked up by Patterson at approximately 7:30pm.

During the course of the evening, they visited a restaurant in Hanover and a guest house in St James, the police said.

At some point during the night, an argument developed between them, which resulted in Patterson allegedly strangling Townsend and disposing of her body.

The police said, too, that 47-year-old security guard, Rohan Rose, otherwise called ‘Early B’, was charged with misprision of a felony in relation to the same matter. 

“In the three weeks since the investigation into her death began, St James and Hanover police have conducted a high-level investigation that has benefitted from the support of the Area 1 Operational Support Team, the Communication Forensic & Cybercrime Division (CFCD), the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), the Technical Services Division (TSD), the Specialised Operations Branch, the Jamaica Defence Force, as well as Jamaica Eye,” the police said.

Patterson was arrested on November 2 during a high-level, intelligence-driven operation.

The police said he was later charged in relation to an unrelated case of assault that occurred in the St Andrew South Police Division.

“This charge is stemming from an incident that occurred in 2018, where he was alleged to have physically assaulted a female after a jealous rage. 

That matter will be mentioned in the Kingston and St Andrew parish court,” the police said.

The police also said that investigations are ongoing as it is suspected that Patterson may have been involved in other incidents similar to those for which he has been charged.

Detectives are, therefore, appealing to the public for any information that may assist in the investigations. 

Persons may contact the Montego Bay CIB at 876-684-9080, Crime Stop at 311, Police Emergency at 119, or the nearest police station.