FREEPORT, St James — After about a 40-minute question and answer session on Tuesday, the police failed to charge Rushane Patterson with any crime in connection with the death of social media influencer Aneka “Slickianna” Townsend.

He was questioned in the presence of a lawyer who sat in on behalf of his attorney Michelle Thomas. Patterson was reportedly asked direct questions about Townsend to which he responded with general answers.

He remains behind bars as a result of being charged last week with abduction in connection with a 2018 incident.

On Tuesday, Thomas flayed the police, arguing that her client has been shabbily treated.

“Right now they would have prejudiced the man because they would have highlighted the fact that he is a person of interest, upstirred the public and now when we reach at the brink of a moment there is nothing conclusive to say that he did anything or that there is even a case for him to answer,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“It is just sad that this [2018] matter had to come to the fore in light of another matter [the Slickianna case] being brought to light. So, one would have to wonder whether or not the police would have pursued this [2018 case] if he was not a person of interest regarding the Aneka matter,” she added.

A court date has not yet been set for the 2018 matter but Thomas said preparations will now have to be made for her client’s defence.

Patterson was charged last week Thursday with abduction and assault in connection with an incident that took place between himself and a woman who was alleged to be his girlfriend.

In that incident, he reportedly asked the complainant to meet him at a gas station on Duhaney Park Road in the Corporate Area. When they met, he reportedly showed her a picture of her new boyfriend and demanded to know how many times they’d had sex.

Patterson reportedly drove away with the woman before stopping along the road and attempting to choke her. She was also allegedly hit all over her body.

It is further alleged that Patterson asked the woman for money, she refused and he threatened to kill her and dispose of her body.

Allegations are that after the woman convinced him that she would not report the incident he took her back to her car and then drove away. She later reported the alleged incident to the police.

There were no updates on the case until Patterson was named as a person of interest in the Townsend case on October 22, a day after the body of the 35-year-old Kingston woman was retrieved from the sea in Reading, St James.

A post-mortem conducted on November 5 indicated that Townsend, who had a shoelace around her neck, was strangled.

Thomas said her client will never recover from the way the police have handled the investigation.

“Whether he overcomes this hurdle or not he will always be scarred and in the public’s eye his reputation is gone. It is a sad day when… the Jamaica Constabulary Force would have a man, have his picture posted, ask that he come in, create a picture as though he was not innocent and so they have cogent evidence when in fact they did not have anything,” she said.