A five-member jury was yesterday selected for the Coroner's Inquest into the death of Donna McKinnon, the woman who was shot to death on April 9, 2001, while in the vicinity of the PPP headquarters on Robb Street.
The inquest, which is scheduled to begin on July 2, will be heard before acting Chief Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen. Attorneys representing the interest of the deceased woman are Basil Williams and Robert Corbin.
The circumstances surrounding the death of McKinnon, 43, have been unclear since her body was discovered on the evening of April 9 in an empty lot near Freedom House, the headquarters of the PPP administration, while a raging fire was engulfing several Regent and Robb Streets premises.
McKinnon, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her head, lower abdomen and right leg, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital.
McKinnon's reputed husband, Brian Caesar, had told Stabroek News that he and McKinnon had gone to the corner of Wellington and Robb Streets, along with a crowd of other persons to see the fire. They were standing on the pavement at the entrance of the Metropole Cinema when police from the Target Special Squad (Anti-Crime Task Force), arrived at around 5 pm, and fired shots in the air. As the crowd scattered, McKinnon, he said, ran in one direction while he ran in another. That was the last time he saw her alive.
According to reports from eyewitnesses, an unidentified person with a handgun was also firing shots from the top floor of Freedom House.
McKinnon's body was later discovered at 6.30 pm in an empty lot next to Freedom House. No one was arrested for her death but police had posted a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator/s.