Man accused of killing social media influencer ‘Slickianna’ charged

The St James police have charged 33-year-old Rushawn Patterson with the murder of 35-year-old social media influencer 'Slickianna', whose given name is Aneka Townsend.

Additionally, 47-year-old security guard Rohan Rose, otherwise called 'Early B', has been charged with misprision of a felony in relation to the case.

Misprision of felony is a crime that occurs when someone knows a felony has been committed but fails to inform the authorities.

Townsend's body was retrieved by the Marine Police in the sea in the Reading area of St James on the morning of Friday, October 21.

The police say a post-mortem that was conducted on November 5 concluded that her death was caused by strangulation.

According to the police, the post-mortem estimates that Townsend was killed some time between 11 p.m. Thursday, October 20 and 9 a.m. Friday, October 21.

They say during the course of the investigation, an abundance of forensic, cyber-forensic, and other technological evidence were collected.

Following consultations with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the JCF Legal Services Division, Patterson was formally charged with murder this afternoon.

The police say the investigation unearthed that on Thursday, October 20, Townsend travelled from Kingston to Montego Bay where she was picked up by Patterson at approximately 7:30 p.m.

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

The police further stated that at some point during in the night, an argument developed between them, which resulted in Patterson strangling Townsend and disposing of her body.

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

He was later charged for an unrelated case of assault that occurred in the St Andrew South police Division.

That charge stemmed from an incident that occurred in 2018, where he was alleged to have physically assaulted a woman after a jealous rage, according to the police.

That matter will be mentioned in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

The police say 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.

As a result, detectives are 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.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.