Rushane Patterson was named as a person of interest in the murder case involving the death of social media influencer Slickianna, whose birth name is Aneka Townsend. Following a recent arrest for questioning and a 40-minute question and answer session in the presence of his lawyer on Tuesday, he has not been charged in relation to the case.
However, Patterson has been further remanded in custody and was charged on Thursday, November 3, for abduction of a woman in 2018, said to be his ex-girlfriend.
Allegedly, during the altercation between him and the unnamed woman, Patterson asked for a meeting at a Duhaney Park Road gas station where he proceeded to question her about her sex life with her new partner after showing her a picture of the man. He reportedly drove away from the gas station, stopped along a roadway, then choked, and hit her repeatedly.
Reports further stated that Patterson asked this supposed ex for money then threatened to kill and get rid of her body when she would not comply. But, after diffusing the situation and being able to convince him that the incident would not be reported, the woman was set free. She later reported the exchange to the police.
Speaking with the Jamaica Observer, attorney-at-law Thomas, heavily criticized the police for their treatment of Patterson by stating, “right now they would have prejudiced the man because they would have highlighted the fact that he is a person of interest, upstirred the public and now when we reach at the brink of a moment there is nothing conclusive to say that he did anything or that there is even a case for him to answer.”
She continued to say that it is regretful that the incident which happened in 2018 is just being investigated and that the sequence of events has to make one wonder if the altercation four years ago would have even been explored by law enforcement if not for the Townsend case.
Thomas stated that Patterson’s reputation will forever be smeared by the way the case was handled. “It is a sad day when… the Jamaica Constabulary Force would have a man, have his picture posted, ask that he come in, create a picture as though he was not innocent and so they have cogent evidence when in fact they did not have anything,” the attorney voiced.
No court date was established for the 2018 incident but a course of action for Pattern’s defence will soon be underway.
The Slickianna investigation had seen no progress until Patterson was named as a person of interest following the discovery and retrieval of Slickianna’s body from the sea in St. James. Postmortem results determined that the 35-year-old woman was strangled.
