Still convinced that his son was murdered with robbery used as a cover, George Ting-a-kee says that while life has been hard since that tragic night in September 2011, he still hopes that police will get to the bottom of the matter.
Ting-a-Kee’s life has been reduced to a cold, dark and lonely place and to this day he still visits Anthony’s grave site. Anthony, then 21 years old was his only child.
In a recent interview with Stabroek News he said, “he wasn’t shot and robbed or robbed and shot. He was deliberately murdered.” He said he had photographs of his son’s wounds which show that the bullet entered from the “bottom of his heart and exited the top of his heart”.
He said his son had to have been “lying” on the ground for someone to have shot him that way and not standing on the seawall as was claimed. “…He must have been running from them. They shot him in the leg…,” the grief stricken man said adding that whatever transpired on the night of September 1, 2011 he probably would now never know.
According to Ting-a-Kee, he had visited the police twice – the last time being late last year – after which they sent the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice. He said the first time they sent it, “they told me that they were instructed to check on all the guns they had retrieved from the time of his death up to the time the file was returned from the DPP’s office to them.”
He told Stabroek News that after the incident occurred “the police had told me certain things.” However, he could not say if the police followed through with what they told him. He said too that the police may have made a decision to clamp down on information because they did not want to compromise their investigation.
Anthony Ting-a-Kee was shot while hanging out with his former girlfriend near the Georgetown seawall. The young woman was not hurt during the incident, after which the two perpetrators fled the scene in the man’s Toyota VIOS motor car PNN 49, which was later recovered in Lamaha Park.
The police had arrested the young woman for questioning but later released her. Ting-a-Kee’s relatives have always held the view that she knew more than she had revealed.
Asked what could have been a motive for the killing, Ting-a-Kee said, “I do not know” but hinted that it might have had something to do with the young woman.
He explained that the two had broken up but the young lady “kept calling and calling him” and going to the home late in the night asking for a drop home. According to the grief-stricken father, on September 1, 2011 one of his son’s friends told him the young lady was getting engaged to a man from the United States. The two had only broken up about two months earlier.
That same night, he recalled, the young woman went to the home and called for Anthony who went down to her. “He came up and say ah going out,” his father said adding that he offered to drop the friend home at the same time. Ting-a-Kee said he imagined his son would have dropped off the young lady first. Before he left, he recalled telling him that it wasn’t a good idea to encourage her, especially if she was engaged to someone else because her new partner may not approve. He said he also told his son that in the present circumstances he was endangering himself.
Asked how long his son and the young woman had been together, Ting-a-Kee said the relationship would have started sometime after he bought a car for his son to attend UG. He claimed the young woman had a boyfriend of a number of years who she broke up with and “latched onto him [Anthony]”.
He said he indicated to Anthony that he found the whole situation strange, adding that his friends warned him about the young woman but he ignored them. “He set out to prove them wrong”, Ting-a-Kee told Stabroek News.
In relation to the recovery of his son’s car, Ting-a-Kee said the police had told him they had two suspects they were questioning from the same area where the car was found. He said he had heard nothing more.
Answers and justice
Ting-a-Kee said he was confident that at some point he will get some answers and justice. He told Stabroek News that he visits his son’s grave every day and despite being attacked by an armed man he will continue to do so. “…There will be justice,” he said.
Ting-a-Kee said that if he allowed himself, “I might have died already” but friends have kept him up. He said that at night he found it very difficult to sleep.
Checking with the police has been difficult, he said, explaining that the rank who is dealing with the case is always busy. He said that rank is saddled with many investigations and often has to go to court.
Ting-a-Kee said too that he wanted the police to do their work and as such did not want to impose. “I need to know why he was killed. I don’t care who is responsible but why did they kill him. What did he do?” he said adding that his son was a “wonderful kid” who was loved by all.
To the persons responsible for his death, he said “whoever, whatever, they are in the hands of God…”
