The family of Jason Ramotar, the man who police say was fatally stabbed during an attempt to break into his cousin’s house at Kaneville, is questioning the circumstances surrounding his death.
Police say Ramotar, 23, of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, was stabbed to his throat when he and four other men attempted to break into a home at Kaneville, at around 3 am on Sunday. He was later pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Jimmy Thomas, who is Ramotar’s cousin, is the owner of the house but it was another occupant, Ryan Van Lange, Thomas’s brother-in-law, who ended up stabbing Ramotar. He is currently in police custody.
Thomas yesterday said he believed that his cousin was influenced by his accomplices to attempt the robbery at the end of a night at drinking that started at the house.
He explained that close relatives had gathered at his home on Saturday to celebrate his sister’s birthday.
Ramotar, who was in attendance, had left the celebration around 9.30 pm to go home but returned sometime later with five other men, including one that he recognised as another resident of Kaneville, known as, “Boyo.”
Thomas said around 1 am, it was just him, Van Lange, Ramotar and the five other men who were still drinking when they decided to stop and call it a night. Ramotar and the other five men then left.
“We go in and bathe and suh and me girl seh she hear a noise by the window and somebody watching,” Thomas further said.
He, however, ignored his girlfriend’s alerts and only became concerned when his brother-in-law shouted at him that that there was someone in the yard.
“By the time I come out, I see he deh on the ground and me brother-in-law done bore he and I see the rest run up de road and gone,” he added.
Prior to the break-in attempt, the electricity had gone off and Thomas thought there was a blackout but after checks he discovered that the electricity and phone wires had been cut.
Thomas said he assumed that the men thought he had money, considering he works in the interior, and they persuaded Ramotar to try and rob him as they might have thought that he and the others in the house were drunk.
However, members of Ramotar’s family are very skeptical about the account that was given to police about how he met his end.
Felice Edwards, Ramotar’s aunt, who was at celebration earlier, recalled seeing just Thomas, Van Lange, Ramotar, an unknown male, and Van Lange’s wife drinking inside the house around 10.30 pm. She said she returned home and her daughter and Van Lange showed up at her house at around 1.30 am. She said Van Lange was drunk and they chatted for a while until Van Lange decided to leave, while explaining that only Thomas and Ramotar had been left.
Edwards said her daughter explained to her that Ramotar was extremely drunk and Thomas would’ve taken him home. The woman said she was later woken up by a phone call from her cousin, who told her that there was a problem as Ramotar was trying to break into the house and that she should come over as fast as she could because Van Lange and Thomas had beaten him “bad, bad.” She said she immediately rushed over and discovered her nephew’s body braced against the wall with his head slumped downwards. She noted that he was bleeding profusely from his mouth and not from the stab wound.
Edwards was subsequently told that Ramotar tried to attack Van Lange, who subsequently lunged forward and stabbed him to his lower neck.
However, members of Ramotar’s family said they are baffled over the thought that he would try to rob his own cousin. They also noted that the windows of Thomas’s house were heavily fortified with grills and they did not see how Ramotar could have expected to enter the house.
They also pointed out that when they arrived at the house, Thomas locked the door and refused to let anyone go inside. Although it was pitch black, due to the power being cut, one of Ramotar’s relatives said he had a torch light and noticed trails of blood leading to where Ramotar’s dead body was sitting. It was noted too that there was blood on the mat, which was situated under the closed door.
Edwards said the police took some three hours to arrive and Ramotar’s body sat in the pouring rain, during which time most of the blood from the scene was washed off.
Ramotar is survived by his wife, Philene Da Costa, and their one-year-old son.
