Liberia: 16-Year-Old Female Murder Suspect Makes First Court Appearance

A 16-year-old female murder suspect, identified as Angel Success Watson, made her first court appearance on Wednesday, November 8, after being arrested by officers of the Liberian National Police (LNP) three and a half months earlier.

Watson was arrested on July 29 of this year for her alleged involvement in the death of Ansu Kromah, also known as “Melting Kate”. Kromah is said to have fallen from the second floor of the old Euro Bank building, Broad Street, Monrovia, on July 29, 2023, at 4 a.m.

During the hearing, Watson pleaded not guilty to the murder charge but was remanded to the Monrovia Central Prison as the crime is non-bailable under Liberian criminal law. She will remain there until her indictment.

According to court records, on the morning of July 29, the victim, Ansu Kromah, was seen with Watson around 2 a.m., as they went upstairs in the building. Another resident of the building, Emmanuel Mends Cole, stated that Watson asked him for access to his room, as she had a client, Kromah, with whom she intended to spend some time there. Cole accepted her proposal after she gave him L$100. However, he later learned that Kromah had fallen from the building when he received the news while at an entertainment center on Johnson Street.

Upon arriving at the scene, Cole realized that it was the same person whom Watson had taken upstairs. He tried to locate her but found that she had abandoned the room, which was left wide open with the key hanging on the door latch.

“It was while we were sitting at the entertainment center on Johnson Street drinking, when we got information that someone had fallen from the building,” Cole was quoted as saying.

Before Kromah’s death, he was involved in serious arguments with some residents of the building, including Francis Kollie, who allegedly offered Kromah a drink from a business center owned by Ma Fatu Kollie in the same building. Ma Fatu is believed to be the mother of Francis Kollie, who is engaged to the defendant. It remains unclear whether Francis Kollie was involved in Kromah’s death.

According to the police investigation, it was established that Kromah had visited the building on the morning of July 29, 2023. Witnesses reported seeing him on the premises around 2:30 am on that day.

Predicated upon her being the last person seen with Kromah before his death, Angel Success Watson is charged with murder under Chapter 14, Section 14.1 of the revised penal code of the Republic of Liberia for intentionally causing the death of Kromah, who fell from the second floor of the old Euro Bank building, according to the police investigation.