Landlord's suspicion led to discovery of pregnant woman's body in shallow grave; Suspect in custody

The prime suspect in the murder of a 21-year-old housewife at Chelsea Park, Mahaica, remains in custody as the Guyana Police Force continues its investigation. Charges could be filed in the coming days. The man is accused of killing his partner and mother of his child, 21-year-old Kerriana Standford of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara. The young woman was also pregnant. Over the weekend, the suspect's landlord, Diana Peters, told reporters that she returned home after nine days of being away to a foul scent in the yard. She said she confronted the suspect about the foul smell. “I wasn’t home for nine days and when I come home, I decide I will wash lil clothes. I come home Tuesday, I decide I will wash, and I would go at the back to go to the back to full water and when I go, I observed the thing, and I called the boy and I asked him. I said Travis you put thing at the back there. He said yes. Some mud smelling at the back there, and he throw the mud there and he was going to move it but I didn’t see him making an effort to move it,” Peters said. The woman said as the scent remained around the yard, she was encouraged by other neighbours to report the matter to the police. The landlord explained that she visited a nearby police station on Friday, but when the police failed to respond promptly, she started to look around the yard, and decided to dig up an area where there was fresh soil. The woman said she came face to face with the young woman's remains in the shallow grave. “When I come home I decide to dig the thing, and I dig the thing, and a foot push up but the person clear so I said it was a Spanish woman but I ain’t know like he was throwing something on the body and make the body get clear like that. And then the police them come, I called them back and they come,” Peters said. In a statement, the Police said the victim was reportedly attacked and killed on July 3, 2026 at about 20:00hrs at Chelsea Park, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. However, the body was only discovered on Friday, July 10. The remains were found buried in a shallow grave at the back of a residence at Chelsea Park, Mahaica, the Police reported. Preliminary investigations revealed that the young woman had visited the residence of the 24-year-old man prior to her disappearance. Once the body was discovered and retrieved by the police, the suspect was arrested and placed into custody. The dead woman’s brother, Daniel Standford, said the family is saddened at the murder. He said his sister was a private person and did not share much on her relationship issues, but he suspects that her death was as a result of a disagreement. “Everybody know relationships is ups and down, we all know that we are human beings, nobody is perfect, but at the same time, everybody does live life different because for me, if I find that I can’t get through with somebody, I would move on but that’s not everybody. So, probably, they had a misunderstanding and he probably hit her and she pass out, and decide to shallow grave her, bury her because he didn’t know what else to do,” he said. The grieving brother said the family looks forward to a thorough investigation, and to have justice for his sister.