Suspect charged in killing of Georgia woman in Grenada

By Linda Straker

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada _ A man accused of killing a tourist from Georgia in a machete attack on an isolated beach in Grenada made his first appearance Wednesday before a judge on the Caribbean island to face a charge of capital murder.

Dave Martin Benjamin did not enter a plea and was not given an opportunity to speak in the brief hearing. A lawyer has not yet been appointed to represent him. The 27-year-old could get the death penalty if convicted.

Hundreds of Grenadians gathered outside the courthouse to get a glimpse of Benjamin, who was wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and sneakers. He stood in silence during the hearing after having turned himself into police on Monday. His picture had been widely circulated on social media.

Benjamin is suspected in Sunday’s machete attack on Jessica Colker and her husband, Brian Melito along a beach on the southeast of the island. Authorities have not disclosed a suspected motive in the attack that killed the 39-year-old physician’s assistant who lived in Atlanta.

Colker had graduated from Tabb High School in the Yorktown, Virginia, area in 1994, according to WAVY-TV in Virginia.

“Jessica could fill the room with laughter in a second,” friend and high school classmate Kristin McManus told WAVY-TV. “And her smile just glowed, and she was such a caring person, an open person.”

Police said Melito told police that he fought with the attacker and ran to get help following the assault. An autopsy found she died of extensive skull fractures and asphyxia. The couple had arrived on Grenada the day before and was staying at a hotel near where the attack occurred.

Police said earlier that Benjamin was convicted of robbery and burglary in 2009 and of a rape in 2013. He was released early from prison in November because of good behaviour.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday. The government of Grenada last executed someone in the 1970s.