On Thursday, November 12, 2026, Guyanese High Court Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty formally ruled that three suspects, including a 33-year-old Venezuelan national Daniel Alexander Ramirez Poedemo identified as the primary accused, will proceed to a full jury trial on terrorism charges linked to the deadly October 26, 2025, explosion at the Mobil gas station at the intersection of Regent and King streets in Georgetown. The ruling came after the court reviewed comprehensive evidence compiled by local law enforcement following a months-long probe into the 7:24 p.m. blast that claimed the life of a 6-year-old girl and left multiple other bystanders with injuries.
During the pre-trial hearing, Magistrate Mc Gusty dismissed a no-case submission filed by the legal team representing taxi driver Johnny Boodram, 27, after determining there was no substantive, corroborated evidence to tie him to the terrorist plot beyond unsubstantiated suspicion, resulting in his immediate release from the case. For co-accused 33-year-old Krystal La Cruz, the magistrate highlighted key evidentiary red flags: La Cruz initially complied with a request to film her location on her mobile phone before deliberately deleting the footage, which investigators later successfully recovered via digital forensics. Citing inconsistencies in her sworn testimony, Mc Gusty stated La Cruz failed to provide the full, unvarnished truth about her activities on the day of the attack, noting evidence showed she arranged hotel accommodation for lead suspect Ramirez Poedemo and facilitated his movements in the lead-up to the blast, acting as a knowing accessory to the plot. Her no-case submission was rejected, clearing the path for her to stand trial alongside the primary accused.
The third committed suspect, 44-year-old Alexander Bettancourt, was found to have traveled to Georgetown alongside Ramirez Poedemo under the pretense of purchasing engine parts, a stated errand he never followed through on before returning to West Coast Demerara. The court ruled Bettancourt possessed full advance knowledge of the terrorist plan and provided material support to the lead suspect in the days leading up to the bombing.
Law enforcement previously confirmed that closed-circuit television footage placed Ramirez Poedemo directly at the gas station on the night of the attack, and he confessed to constructing and transporting the explosive device. Investigative records show Ramirez Poedemo and an unidentified Venezuelan accomplice, who entered Guyana illegally by boat at a Parika koker at 8 a.m. on the day of the blast, conducted pre-attack surveillance of the gas station before attempting to place the explosive in a waste bin near a fuel dispenser. After a station attendant stopped him from leaving the bag there, he positioned the device next to a parked vehicle, which detonated minutes later, destroying the car and causing the fatal casualty and multiple injuries. Police have not publicly released a confirmed motive for the terrorist attack to date. Magistrate Mc Gusty emphasized during the ruling that all determinations of guilt or innocence for the three remaining committed suspects will be reserved for the jury during the forthcoming full trial, rather than being resolved at the pre-trial committal stage.