Attorney-at-law Dexter Todd is pushing back against claims from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), asserting that his recent press statement regarding the investigation into the death of 11-year-old Adriana Younge was rooted in facts, not personal opinion, and was consistent with observations made by an international expert involved in the case.
“Why is the GPF not properly reading press releases before they respond?” Todd asked pointedly, in reaction to a strongly worded police rebuttal issued Saturday. “My office reported facts, not my personal opinion. It was the foreign investigator who expressed surprise that the father had not given a statement, not me.”
Todd also reiterated his longstanding concern over a lack of transparency in the investigation. “From day one, I have been asking for the name of the lead investigator in this matter. To date, no such name has been provided,” he added.
The attorney’s remarks came after the GPF accused him of deliberately misrepresenting their efforts to obtain a statement from Adriana’s father, Subrian Younge, in connection with her death. The police said multiple attempts were made between April 24 and May 16 to engage Mr. Younge, both directly and through legal representatives, but he allegedly did not comply.
According to the GPF, the first documented approach occurred on April 24, 2025, the same day Adriana’s body was discovered in a swimming pool at the Double Day Hotel in Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. The Officer in Charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for Regional Division #3 reportedly met Mr. Younge at the hotel and invited him to the station to give a statement, but he did not follow through.
Further outreach was made through telephone calls to the family’s then attorney, Daren Wade, and later to Dexter Todd. While some relatives complied and provided statements, police said Mr. Younge remained absent. In their release, the GPF found it “strange” that even as Todd called for justice, the family had not fully cooperated with the investigation.
The Force also took issue with what it described as Todd’s “convenient omission” of his earlier praise for the work of Canadian investigator Leonard McCoshen, a retired RCMP Major Crimes expert assisting with the case. They cited a statement in which Todd reportedly said, “Your input and recommendation can assist greatly in this matter.”
The GPF further stated that it would, at the appropriate time, respond point-by-point to what it characterized as “a barrage of blatant misrepresentations” and questioned Todd’s integrity in handling the matter publicly.
The ongoing investigation surrounds the tragic death of Adriana Younge, a pupil of Parika Salem Primary School who had recently completed the National Grade Six Assessment.
She was found dead in the swimming pool of the hotel where she had spent the day prior with relatives. Her death triggered nationwide outrage, with fiery protests erupting across the country. The hotel where she died was later set ablaze and looted, and the home of its proprietor was also torched.
As the police and the family’s legal team continue to spar publicly, the call for justice and clarity remains louder than ever.
