Kwauhuru Govan, cold case suspect, ordered back to court Friday
Kwauhuru Govan is restrained in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. Govan is charged with two murders. Credit: Barry Williams
Kwauhuru Govan, accused in the 2005 cold-case beheading of Rashawn Brazell in Brooklyn, was ordered back to court on Friday to be arraigned after prosecutors got an order authorizing authorities to use force to take his fingerprints.
Govan, 38, of Brooklyn, has been charged with two unsolved murders — the killing of Sharabia Thomas, 17, in 2004, and the 2005 murder and dismemberment of Brazell, 19, a neighbor whose body parts were found in subway tunnels.
Already in custody on the Thomas case, Govan was charged in Brazell’s killing last week, but could not be arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court because he resisted being fingerprinted and acted up in court.
His indictment and details of the case against him remain sealed until he is arraigned.
Govan’s lawyer and a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney said Govan would get another chance to be voluntarily fingerprinted, and if he refused, he would be involuntarily fingerprinted at Rikers Island jail.
'We treat each of these cases individually' A Newsday review turned up half a dozen instances of unidentified remains found on LI in the early '90s — a period when the admitted serial killer began committing murders. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn hosts a discussion with Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney and Newsday criminal justice reporter Anthony DeStefano.
'We treat each of these cases individually' A Newsday review turned up half a dozen instances of unidentified remains found on LI in the early '90s — a period when the admitted serial killer began committing murders. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn hosts a discussion with Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney and Newsday criminal justice reporter Anthony DeStefano.
