Antigua police have charged a man over the fatal stabbing of a member of parliament in his seaside home.

Police on the Caribbean island charged Alexta Francis, 26, two days after the landscaper was arrested and questioned about the killing of Asot Michael. Francis was due to make his first appearance in court on Monday.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Francis was being held on Saturday.

Atlee Rodney, the police commissioner, commended investigators “for their diligence and professionalism in handling the matter”. He later told the Associated Press that the police had no plans to disclose the motive but would instead allow it to be revealed in court.

Michael, 54, was an independent member of parliament and a wealthy businessman who ascended through the ranks of the governing Antigua and Barbuda Labour party to serve as a minister. Although he was well known for being a philanthropist among his constituency, he was also barred from running on the party’s ticket after various controversies, including an international bribery scandal over which he had denied wrongdoing.

He successfully ran as an independent in the 2023 election to retain his seat in parliament.

Michael was found dead on Tuesday in his home on Antigua’s west coast when a housekeeper reported to work and discovered his body with multiple stab wounds.

It was the first time such a crime had been committed against a parliamentarian in the twin island state of Antigua and Barbuda.

On Thursday, the government announced it would seek assistance from the London Metropolitan police with the investigation but police said assistance would no longer be needed. As a former British colony, the nation still has strong ties to Britain and in the past has requested help from London police in high-profile cases.