Police have detained a Lodge resident who stabbed and killed another man during a heated argument over a pile of missing clothing on Wednesday night.
Carl Thomas, 55, of 35 John Street, Lodge died while receiving treatment at the public hospital. He sustained a single stab wound in his abdomen which relatives said punctured vital organs. Thomas was stabbed in front of his home around 6.30 pm.
Thomas and his attacker grew up together and lived like brothers, according to his family. The two men were quarrelling over clothes which Thomas said went missing.
Lear Porter, Thomas’s brother called the incident “unnecessary” saying yesterday that the two men allowed the argument to escalate to a point where someone had to lose their life. He said it was unfortunate that his brother was fatally wounded, but also pointed out that his grief would have been no less had it been the aggressor who was killed.
“We all grew up together… we’re brothers who shared a childhood and so many other things together. He [the attacker] even lived at us,” Porter said shaking his head. He said many people watched as the two argued over the clothes, but “we couldn’t see the outcome”.
Porter recalled that Thomas and his attacker were outside his family’s residence when the argument erupted. He was sitting in a shop which he manages downstairs of the home observing what was happening and even called out to his brother. He said Thomas heard him and went to sit down close by the shop.
But the argument continued a few minutes later and Thomas ended up at the gate where his attacker was. Porter said he was watching the two men and observed when his brother’s attacker made an attempt to pull something from his waist. “I know he walks with a knife… but when I looked, it didn’t look like he was carrying anything at that time,” Porter added.
It was when Porter looked away that the man drew a long knife and stabbed his brother. The wound he inflicted was so severe that Thomas’s intestines were protruding. Porter said his brother ran to him saying, “ma stomach outside, ma stomach outside,” and then slumped to the ground. He arranged for a taxi and his brother was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He later received word that Thomas died while receiving treatment.
The man who stabbed Thomas is very popular in the area and many people lamented that the two men were too close for the friendship to end in that manner. Many people wore grim expressions on their faces as they gathered at the residence to reflect on Thomas’s life. One of Thomas’s daughters could be heard wailing; her agony piercing the quiet in the street and reaching as far as two corners away.
Porter said the incident showed him how easy a man could lose his life and over such a minor issue.
He said his mother passed away in November last year, while another relative was killed a year prior. Thomas leaves to mourn his four children and four siblings.
