An Uliga man who allegedly shot another man at point-blank range in 2018 was charged with attempted murder April 9 — three years and one day to the day that he is alleged to have seriously assaulted a couple in a home invasion.
At the time of the alleged April 8, 2018 assault by Kency Silk, 49, on Sandy Juonran and Henson Mongkeya, he was out on release facing pending charges of assault with a deadly weapon for a similar assault on the same couple in December 2017. His bail was revoked after this incident and he remained in jail. At the time, in April 2018, Attorney General’s office prosecutor then-Assistant Attorney General Meuton Laidren told the Journal because Silk was in jail and facing other charges, there was no time pressure to file new charges for the April 8 incident.
However, what with AG office staff change over, no charges were ever filed for that incident involving the shooting of Mongkeya — until Attorney General Richard Hickson filed attempted murder, burglary and aggravated assault charges against Silk on April 9.
Silk was sentenced to a five-year jail term, with three years to serve in July 2018 for the December 2017 assault on Mongkeya in which he used a rifle as a club and also beat Juonran.
The new charges filed earlier this month say that Silk came to Juonran’s house in Uliga, pointed a gun at her, threatened to kill her with the gun, then assaulted her by hitting her face and when she fell to the floor unconscious he entered the house and shot Mongkeya. The victim managed to get away, although the charges said he was “heavily bleeding.” After shooting Mongkeya, Silk went back to kicking the unconscious Juonran in the head until Rumi Nashon stepped in to stop him, according to the charges.
But the initial appearance last Wednesday was continued for two weeks because of some issues with the wording of the charges filed by the prosecutor. Hickson will file an amended complaint by April 27 and a further hearing into the charges will be held the next day, according to Chief Justice Carl Ingram who is handling the case.
Silk is represented by Assistant Public Defender Karotu Tiba.
Prior to wrapping up the April 14 hearing, Ingram released Silk on his own recognizance with a list of conditions, including that he turn in his passport to the Clerk of Courts and keep the peace while on release awaiting the next hearing.