Teen dies 3 days after beaten by gang on bus park

Oct 05, 2022 News

---

By Allyiah Allicock

Kaieteur News – Police in Georgetown are currently investigating the death of 19-year-old Samuel Grannum who passed away on Monday after being beaten by a group of men at a bus park on Friday last.

According to information reaching this publication, the incident which claimed the life of Grannum of Lot 19 Samaroo Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara occurred around 15:45hrs at Croal Street, Stabroek, Georgetown in the vicinity of the route 45 minibus park.

Police revealed that based on information received so far, Grannum, who was a student of the Government Technical Institute (GTI), was at the bus park where he was confronted by several males who lashed him about his body and head with a golf club and escaped in a motorcar which has not yet been identified.

Kaieteur News understands that an injured Grannum was picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was seen and examined by a doctor on duty and then admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.

Since there has been no clear motive for the attack, police are hoping to piece the case together with the help of several persons who were questioned. Also, investigators are said to be depending heavily on CCTV footage from the area.

As police investigate, the young man’s family members, who are seeking justice for his death, are convinced that the attackers had mistaken him for someone else.

Speaking with this publication on Tuesday, one of Grannum’s aunts, Marcia Grannum related that the family is still trying to come to grips with the matter since they are not aware that the young man had any grievances with anyone who would want to hurt him physically.

The woman said that she was informed that on Friday afternoon her nephew was at the bus park, which is located just opposite a KFC outlet, with one of his school friends.

“I not sure if they were sitting or standing but they were there, and the friend, I don’t know who the friend saw, but he said to my nephew ‘run Grannum’, so he was like why you running and he (friend) start running and the mob start running too, but my nephew run probably late and they caught up with him and they beat him up severe,” she related.

Marcia said that she learnt that the gang attacked her nephew with hockey sticks, baseball bat, wood and bottles.

Her nephew, she stated, was taken to the GPHC and sometime after 18:00hrs, the family arrived. According to the woman, when they got there, no sort of assistance was given to her injured nephew.

“My sister-in-law asked the nurse and they told her that there are eight persons in front of him, so he got to wait his turn. Mind you, he was there bleeding inside, we would not have known that because we not seeing no blood but we know he got beat to his head,” she reported.

According to the woman, around 19:00hrs, her nephew was still waiting to be treated at the public hospital. It was around this time too, she said, that he started to complain that his head was hurting. Shortly after, she said, her nephew became unconscious and never regained consciousness.

The woman said that the family made a decision to take Grannum to a private hospital where he was admitted. However, he died just after 13:00hrs on Monday while receiving treatment.

As a result of the beating, this publication understands that the young man suffered two fractures to his skull, broken ribs, a number of lacerations, internal bleeding and a chop wound between his right ear and his neck.

“He was never involved in any incidents, in school or out of school, he was never involved in any incident, we asked the principal and lectures and all them give us a good report and that he was never involved in anything,” the aunt related.

The family, she said, was told that over five men had attacked Grannum. Considering the brutal nature of the attack, the woman said that the family is calling on police to conduct a thorough investigation and find the persons who are responsible.

Grannum was a second year student at GTI studying electrical installation. He was described as a jovial, kind and very obedient person and was the only child for his parents.

In relation to the young man’s death, the Guyana Police Force on Tuesday issued a wanted bulletin for Keron Taylor called ‘Laro’ of Lot 83 Adelaide Street, Charlestown, Georgetown.

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Taylor is asked to contact police on telephone numbers: 225-6940, 225-8196, 226-7476, 225-2317, 225-8196, 227-1149, or the nearest police station.

Meanwhile, an official from the GPHC in an invited comment would only say that, “the hospital is looking into it” when asked about the allegations levelled by the young man’s family.

---

---