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Dec 28, 2012 News
– Suspect reportedly seen fleeing area after shots fired
Police believe that they have made a significant breakthrough in relation to the murder of 71-year-old shopkeeper Derrick Cox, who was shot dead by bandits six days ago at his grocery in Ramos Street, Plaisance.
In a shocking turn of events, detectives have detained a relative of the slain man after receiving reports that he was seen fleeing from the area on Saturday night when the elderly man was shot.
The relative, who reportedly has had previous brushes with the law, was arrested at a dance on Boxing Night. A source said that eyewitnesses have already come forward to identify him as one of the three individuals seen running from the area after the fatal shots were fired.
Cox, called ‘Backatoo’, was shot in the chest at around 22:50 hrs last Saturday, by bandits who had attacked him outside his shop. There are reports that the killers escaped in a white car.
Kaieteur News was told that the family had received reports that a similar vehicle was seen in Ramos Street last Wednesday and that the relative who is a suspect was one of the occupants.
It is believed that the men had planned to carry out the robbery that night but the presence of residents near Mr. Cox’s shop deterred them. The attack occurred at a time when many of the residents were at a dance in another section of the community.
“He (the relative) did it,” a source close to the victim told Kaieteur News yesterday. “People saw him. He was circling (the area) in the same car with some other boys on Wednesday night. But my brother was there till morning so they couldn’t do anything.”
A female relative, who lives in the same yard as the slain man, said she was in her living room at around 22:50 hrs last Saturday when she heard a loud sound as several cases of bottles crashed to the ground. She then heard two gunshots.
The woman said that she did not venture outside, although she was convinced that the sounds were coming from Cox’s shop, which is situated at the front of the yard. She said that Cox then began calling her name and pleading for help.
“I could not come out because is a young baby I got here, so I push the window and he keep talking to me…But he tell me to call his nephews…I call them and they came,” the woman told this newspaper
“He was gasping for breath, he was right there by the door lying on the ground.”
She believes that the bandits fled empty-handed since there was still cash in a drawer in the shop.
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