Nabaclis man gunned down execution style
By Dale Andrews The gunning down of a 28 year old pork knocker in the village of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara has left his family and other residents of the nearby village of Nabaclis in a state of shock and deep mourning.
Dwayne Kennedy called “Jigga”
Dwayne Kennedy called “Jigga”, 28 lost the battle for his life a few hours after receiving three bullets from the weapon of a hooded gunman who has since eluded capture. It was a miracle that Kennedy survived to reach the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after being shot in the head, neck and chest at around 00:30 hours while he was standing behind a stall in the Golden Grove market. Although there are varying reports, Kennedy’s relatives are convinced that the perpetrator is a former neighbor, with whom he had a grievance that started about two years ago. The man had even reportedly threatened to kill him a few months ago. Police in a press release yesterday said that Kennedy, of Nabaclis, ECD, was in the Golden Grove Market area, when he was approached by four men, one of whom discharged rounds at him from a firearm and they escaped. “Dwayne Kennedy was hit about his body and was admitted to the GPHC where he subsequently succumbed. Investigations are in progress,” the police statement said. The killing was the main topic of discussion in Kennedy’s home village and neighbouring communities, with many describing it as senseless. Several neighbours and friends converged on his home to try to comfort his mother Cheryl
The dead man’s mother Cheryl Berkshire is hoping for swift justice.
Berkshire and his siblings who were trying to come to grips with their loss. Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, Berkshire said that she last saw her son on Friday afternoon when he left home with his girlfriend to go to the Golden Grove market to check out the usual “Friday night action.” The woman, who sells snacks in front of her yard, said that her son, who works in the interior, had been spending most of his days at home since he had done a surgery only three weeks ago. “He tell me, ‘mommy things lil slow, come at Golden Grove front and sell.’ He tell me he would keep a space for me,” Berkshire said. According to the woman, a few hours later, the changing weather caused her to change her mind from going and sell at the market square, so she decided to retire for the night. She said that she thought about calling Kennedy to tell him about her change of plans, but she did not—a move she later regretted. “Ow! Is best I did call he…if I de call he, he might’a come home,” she cried. While she was sleeping, a young villager came calling at her gate with the tragic news. “He say, ‘Cousin Cheryl come now, now! Dem shoot up Dwaynie’. I ask he who and he tell me he don’t know and I jump and hustle fuh find clothes fuh put on,” Berkshire recalled. She hurried to the market which is located about 800 metres from her home but by the time she got there, someone had already picked up her son and rushed him to the hospital. “When I go at de hospital, my son was fighting for his life, even though he get three shots, one in his head, one in his neck and one in his chest…that is premeditated murder. They mean to kill my child,” the woman cried. Berkshire said that she learnt that her son was standing around some men who were gaming when the gunman came up and shot him. She said that she was told that as her son lay bleeding on the ground, the gunman whom she named stood over him trembling, until his accomplice rode up on a motorcycle and took him away. A man who claimed to be an eyewitness to the shooting said that he peered out from where he was sitting when he heard the three gunshots, and saw a hooded man holding a gun while Kennedy lay on the ground. According to the man, immediately after shooting Kennedy, the gunman ran north into the village of Golden Grove where he escaped into the dark. “Everybody de done scatter. Is a shop man who run and pick up “Jigga” and rush he to de hospital right away,” the eyewitness said. Up to yesterday morning, a trail of blood leading from where Kennedy had fallen to the road where he was placed into the car was still visible. The dead man’s sister Odelevana Kennedy said that her brother met his death at the hands of a former neighbour with whom he had an ongoing two year old feud. “My brother and him had a problem and this guy went and get his gang members and they beat my brother…the same spot where they killed my brother, that is the same spot where they had beaten him two years ago,” Kennedy’s sister told this newspaper. She said that during the beating two years ago, the gang members had snatched off her brother’s gold chain. The woman said that her brother had reported that matter but the police made no sustained effort to apprehend the neighbor although he would visit the house behind theirs from time to time. Late last year, the neighbour threatened to kill her brother and that too was reported to the police, and again nothing was done. “But last night the same boy killed my brother, just like that,” Odelevana Kennedy said. Police have taken a number of statements and are hoping to retrieve the warheads from Kennedy’s body to narrow down their investigations since no spent shells were found at the scene of the crime.
