Security guard in ‘Slickianna’ murder case gets new court date
Published:Sunday | March 23, 2025 | 9:58 PMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Rohan Rose, the man accused of not telling the police what he knew about the 2022 murder of social media influencer Aneka ‘Slickianna’ Townsend, is expected to know his fate when he returns to the St James Circuit Court on October 16.
Rose, a security guard of a Hanover address, is charged with misprision of a felony, which is when someone knows of a crime but fails to report it to the authorities.
Reports are that Rushawn Patterson, the man accused of the murder but who is now deceased, told Rose that he had killed Townsend, but Rose did not report the killing to the police.
Rose was scheduled to appear in the St James Circuit Court for trial yesterday, following his previous appearance on September 21, 2023. However, checks by The Gleaner revealed that his case was not listed. It was disclosed by court staff that his case is scheduled for hearing on October 16.
Rose’s newest court date of October 16 is one day after Patterson was expected to make his next appearance in the St James Circuit Court, which was scheduled for October 15.
The security guard’s trial should have started on September 21, 2023, but was put off to yesterday due to the absence of witnesses and jurors at that time. His bail was extended following that court appearance.
Patterson, who was granted bail on medical grounds, was shot and killed just under a month ago during an alleged early-morning confrontation with the police at his home in Dundee Pen, Hanover.
Patterson was accused of killing Townsend, who had travelled by bus from Kingston to Montego Bay on October 20, 2022, to meet him. He reportedly picked her up at the bus stop, and they visited a restaurant in Hanover and a guest house in St James.
Sometime during the night, they reportedly had an argument and Patterson reportedly strangled Townsend and disposed of her body in the sea off the Reading coastline in St James. The body was found the following morning.
It is currently unclear how Patterson’s death will impact the case against Rose, who is represented by attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas.
According to the allegations against Rose, he was reportedly told by Patterson that he had killed Townsend, but he did not report it to the police. After Townsend’s body was retrieved by the marine police, based on intelligence, Rose was arrested and charged on November 4, 2022, two days after Patterson was arrested.
It was subsequently reported that after his arrest, Rose gave the police a statement regarding Patterson, which led to Patterson being formally charged with Townsend’s murder on November 11, 2022.