Shooting victim gives thanks as suspect is caught

0
24
- Advertisement -

The lone surviving victim of a bloody gun attack that left two others dead last October, was among the first individuals to announce on social media the capture of the suspect yesterday morning, saying “The long wait is over. Thank [you] Lord, most wanted man aka Calvin James.”
Lawrence James, the nephew of Calvin “Burga’ James, subsequently declined to go on record with OBSERVER media for personal, painful reasons which he outlined off the record, but on social media, he further remarked, “Now my sister [and] fiancée can rest in peace RIP see [you] all in the afterlife.”
And, he added, “Now my sister [and] fiancée can get [the] justice we all been looking for.”
The youngster said his “mind is at ease” following the arrest of his 52-year-old uncle who allegedly attempted to murder him on October 5 last year by shooting him in the face. His uncle also allegedly murdered his sister Tahisha James and fiancée, Sanchezca Charles during the same attack at their Donovans home in the wee hours that Friday morning.
The tragedy unfolded just days after Calvin “Burga” James was arraigned in the High Court on charges stemming from an attack on his sister, Ineta Liburd (Lawrence James’s mother) and another one of her daughters following a dispute over the property in which they lived.
At the arraignment, it was clear the prosecution intended to proceed with the trial for the offences which allegedly occurred in May 2015.
In that incident, it is alleged that the accused used a taser to shock his sister before beating her. Then, he allegedly turned on his niece and chopped her about the body.
Although he was charged with two counts of wounding with intent, he was later granted bail and he met the requirements to be released.
The most recent offences in October were committed while he was on bail awaiting trial for the earlier incidents.
After losing her daughter, daughter-in-law and the wounding of her son, Liburd told OBSERVER media she learned that her brother actually went to the house searching for her that morning, and when he did not find her, he executed the two females and attempted to kill young James.
The tragedy, she said recently, pushed her to her limit and she has had to attend therapy to cope.
Yesterday, she said she hopes the police and court properly handle the matter now that her brother has been captured.
The mother spoke exclusively with OBSERVER media after she got the news that an ex-cop caught her sibling and turned him over to the police just over three months after the tragedy.
“And I hope, no more bail and I hope the government and the court give us our justice. And I thank each and every one. Look, only God knows how I feel. Look, I am crying, I am so rejoiced I can’t rejoice anymore but I’m thankful for everything,” she said.
The grieving mother who was placed in protective custody soon after the incident, said all of her children would have been alive today if the court had refused to give her brother bail last year while he had the wounding cases pending.
Liburd, who left the state due to safety reasons and did not even get to attend her daughter’s funeral, said, “I told these police every day that this man said he was going to kill me and my family. Even when he was in prison and they give him bail and I went back and told them he said he is going to kill us, then this happened; we have done him nothing,” she cried.
The mother maintains that she is not going to drop any of the cases against her brother and is urging the authorities to do their part.
One of the things she wants them to do, is to ensure systems are in place for her to testify via skype so that she does not have to return to Antigua to face the horrors she endured for the past four years.
News of her brother’s arrest brought a level of joy, but the woman said there’s a fresh pain in her heart now as another journey begins which is expected to lead to several trials in court.
“Peace don’t come as yet and as I said, I thank the Lord for everything but I just want justice because my children and I have done him nothing … I could have lost two but God spared one life so that he could be the witness for everything,” she said, breaking down in tears.
Several of Liburd’s children were still in protective custody in Antigua up to yesterday.
The woman said her offspring certainly cannot be expected to return to the house where the tragedy unfolded.

- Advertisement -