A missing boy with a kite…a sadistic killer…NEVER TO RETURN HOME

Apr 22, 2019 News

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By Feona Morrison

Five days before Easter Monday in April 2015, a nine-year-old boy named Shaquan Gittens wandered off alone to fly his kite.
But that child never returned home, and today, while many parents will be flying kites with their children and taking part in the various Easter festivities, Earl McCalman, his dad, will be reliving that moment.

NEVER TO RETURN HOME
McCalman related that his son left home to fly the kite that he, McCalman had bought.
“His (Shaquan’s) mother, Doysha, would always prepare food for him to take to fly his kite. Shaquan’s older brother was taking out the food in the kitchen and later noticed that he was missing. His brother called out for him but got no reply.”
As nightfall approached, the child’s mother telephoned Mr. McCalman and inquired of Shaquan’s whereabouts, since it was getting late and he had not returned home.

McCalman admitted that he did not get the feeling that anything was amiss.
After all, it was Easter, and children in the neighbourhood would often stay out a little late to fly their kites.
But anxiety stepped in when, at 7:00 p.m., Shaquan still had not returned.
“My child mother call back around seven (pm) and said that this boy ain’t come home. I went all over looking for him. I take like 10 taxis. I didn’t even eat. That was a really frustrating time for me and my family.”
“I search all over for my son. Then on April 04, 2015 (two days before Easter Monday 2015), I got a call from the police. They tell me they find a body in the trench and if I could come and identify it. By the time I reach on the scene, the police had already taken away the body. Me son mother did already come and identify his body.”
It emerged that when Shaquan had left home alone, he had crossed paths with a sadistic killer.
That individual was 26-year-old Brian Bobb-Semple who was reportedly of unsound mind, and from the same community.
Bobb-Semple reportedly saw the little boy walking along Caneview Avenue, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, at night. He tripped the child, causing him to fall.
Bobb-Semple allegedly then dragged Shaquan to an isolated area in the Houston Backlands where he tied the nine-year-old boy’s hands and feet. He then sexually assaulted the child, strangled his victim, and slept under a tree with the dead boy nearby.
Not satisfied, the killer then severed the child’s privates.

According to Mr. McCalman, the suspect later told someone in the neighbourhood about his ghastly deed.
That same resident, he said, escorted the killer to a police station where, “He talk the whole story.”
“We couldn’t find his penis and the police ask he (Bobb-Semple) where it deh. He tell the police he cut off the boy penis with a knife and push it in he mouth. At the parlour, them open my son’s mouth and find it.”

CONFRONTING HIS SON’S KILLER
Mr. McCalman admitted that, when he saw his son’s killer for the first time at the police station, he wanted to harm him.
“Every time I go at the station and I see that man, I use to get angry. Them police use to handcuff me to the bench. I wanted to hurt him. He took away my baby. My son wanted to be a cabin crew member to work on a plane. He was doing very well in school. He use to bring either first or second. He use to read the newspapers to me.”
Bobb-Semple was eventually charged with murder, and was deemed fit to stand trial.
On July 3, 2018, Bobb-Semple was sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment without parole, after pleading guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
Bobb-Semple’s lawyer had pleaded with the court to have mercy on his client, and requested that he undergoes continuous psychiatric evaluations during his time in prison.
According to the lawyer, no one in their right frame of mind would do something like what Bobb-Semple did, to a child.

WHY DID YOU DO IT?
Mr. McCalman related that he was not aware of Bobb-Semple’s court appearance. The father said that he had wanted to be at the courthouse to see the killer once more.
He said he wanted to ask him, “Why did you do it? Why did you take my son away from me? You had no right to do a little boy something like that.”
McCalman indicated that he could never forgive Bobb-Semple and that the ruthless killer would have to seek forgiveness from God.
He believes that people like Bobb-Semple should be “lost away in jail,” since they pose a threat to society. He described the killer as a predator and stressed that there are many more like him out there.
He is urging parents to keep a close eye on their children during this time since, like his son, they might wander off to fly their kites.

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