Steve Anthony Carew was left lying in a hammock at Black Water Landing, Region Eight with seven stab wounds for three days and though persons knew what had transpired no one tried to assist him.
It was a relative who went to the area to drop off supplies who found him, still clinging to life. Thirty-three-year-old Carew, however, died during the rough one-day journey to the Mahdia Hospital.
The dead man’s brother Allan Carew yesterday called on the police to do more to find the killer who has since been identified also as ‘Long Hair’ from East Coast Demerara. The grief-stricken man expressed shock at the uncaring nature of those who left his brother to practically bleed to death.
Allan explained that Carew, who was a mechanic for at least ten years, left his Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara home for the Black Water Backdam a year ago to work with a Brazilian dredge owner. He said that contrary to what was reported in the press, Carew had gone to Black Water Landing on Father’s Day (June 19) to hang out with some friends when he was attacked and robbed. Police had reported that the stabbing occurred some time on June 21.
Allan told Stabroek News that according to the information, he has gathered so far, his brother and the suspect worked for the same persons. However, the suspect was fired a few days before the stabbing for stealing and was left stranded on the Landing since he had no money to travel out of the area.
According to Allan, he was told that the night when his brother went to the Landing, he had several hundred thousand dollars in his possession. It would appear, he said, that the two men were drinking and the suspect somehow found out that Carew had money and decided to kill him for it.
Allan said that after being stabbed in the neck, hand and shoulder with a pair of scissors, Carew was left lying in a hammock near a shop. He said he was told that anyone who attempted to assist his brother was told by the shop owner “don’t touch he, he is trouble”. Allan said that it was a cousin-in-law who drove his truck into the area with items for a dredge owner who found the badly wounded Carew and decided to drive him to the hospital.
Allan told this newspaper that the journey to Mahdia was a rough one as the road is in a deplorable state. Allan said his brother died before reaching the hospital. He stressed that had persons in the area assisted his brother immediately, he may have had a fighting chance at survival. “Just imagine no one was there to give him a cup of water,” he said, emotion evident in his voice. He said he was also told that persons witnessed the murder.
He insisted that ‘Long Hair’ premeditated to kill Carew. He said he last spoke to his brother when he left home a year ago and prior to that he never expressed any fears for his safety.
No active
investigation
Allan told Stabroek News that there is no active police investigation into the matter and he blamed it on the distance between the two communities along with the fact that the police are not in possession of the appropriate vehicles to make the trip.
The man said that following the death of his brother, a policeman told him that there are over 100 cases of unsolved murders and missing persons in the Black Water area. He said he was shocked at the number of persons who turned up at the Mahdia Hospital morgue to view the body to see if it was their missing relative. The man said that based on what he has gathered police are afraid to go there as “it is one of the most dangerous mining areas in Guyana”.
Allan told Stabroek News that on hearing of his brother’s death he had to leave his job in Berbice and immediately start making plans to have the body brought to the city. He explained that the body was lying in Mahdia waiting on police to bring it out and that seemed like an indefinite wait.
He said the cost to fly the body to the city was quoted at $175,000 payable in advance and the operators of the plane told the family that if the body was not immediately available, there would be no refund. Not wanting to take that chance, the family hired a van for $50,000 with an additional $30,000 fuel cost. The return journey took four days. “The trail was hard,” he stressed.
It is the family’s hope that one day `Long Hair’ will be caught and they will get justice.
