Tragic end to eight years of friendship

Nov 20, 2020 News

15-year-old shot dead…

Dead, Rockey Sawh.

The fatal shooting of Rockey Sawh, 15, allegedly by his best friend, 16, is now being described as a tragic ending to eight years of ‘great’ friendship between the boys.
Sawh’s mother, Amrita Panday, described their friendship as admirable and told Kaieteur News, “They actually grew up together; they attended different schools but shared a great relationship with each other.”
The boys’ parents also knew each other and were good friends too. According to Sawh’s father, Rakesh Sawh, he has been a neighbour and friend of the 16-year-old’s parents for 12 years.The years of friendship between both families and the boys, however came to a tragic an abrupt end after Sawh died on Wednesday around 14:20 hrs. at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Corporation (GPHC). He was shot to the right side of his head.

The house located in Kitty where the fatal shooting reportedly took place.

Police stated that his death was as a result of an accidental shooting which took place at the best friend’s home located in Sandy Babb Street Kitty. Sawh’s mother said he went there for a sleep over on Tuesday evening.
Investigators reported that Sawh’s friend had found his father’s .32 Taurus pistol and showed it to him. The friend, this newspaper was told, pointed the gun to Sawh’s head and accidently pulled the trigger. The two boys were alone when the incident occurred. The gun went off and Sawh fell.
The time of the shooting and what happened after is turning out to be a mystery for Sawh’s parents. Family members learnt of Sawh’s shooting around 03:00 hrs. on Wednesday morning. When they arrived at the hospital he was in a coma and brain dead. After inquiring they learnt that he arrived there some time around 02:30 hrs.
The medical professionals also told them that the teen might have been shot some four hours prior to his arrival. They speculated that it might have been sometime around 23:00 hrs. on Tuesday since his friends had spoken to him on Facebook between 21:00 and 22:00 hrs.
During a visit to scene, yesterday, neighbours told this newspaper that did not hear any gunshots or loud explosion that night.
Kaieteur News reported on Thursday of allegations made that the suspect’s mother had turned up at scene, picked up her son and left, while Sawh was discovered by another individual lying in a pool of blood around 02:10 hrs. Speaking with the paper yesterday, police sources said that they received a call informing them of the incident from the friend’s mother around that time. Detectives also received information, a top police official said, that the woman had called an ambulance too.
It is unclear whether the woman or the suspect was at scene when the call was made. Nevertheless, they were both picked up by cops, hours later at their second home, located at Dairy, Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
“I saw when the police came and arrested them. I live just next door to their house in Dairy but what makes me angry is that they still did not inform me that my son was shot, we had to learn from other sources,” said Sawh’s dad.
He continued that even when he attempted to inquire of his son’s death, the friend’s parents refused to say anything to him. Sawh’s mother also shared similar sentiments: “They are not telling us anything, we just want to know what happened, we want answers.”
She said all she is knows is that the friend’s parents were residing at Dairy in their second home and that the teen traveled to Kitty on Monday to stay in that house since it was more convenient for him to attend school in the city.