The family of Seon Clarke, who is a suspected victim of a vigilante killing at Pearl, East Bank Demerara, has refuted reports in the press that he was involved in criminal activities and wants the police to conduct a thorough investigation to find the person responsible for his death.
Police had said that Clarke, whom they said was known as ‘Cash Money,’ of Old Road, Land of Canaan, was shot and killed and his friend was beaten by residents at Pearl, after the proprietor of a shop noticed the two men acting suspiciously around his business on Saturday. However, his grandmother, Margaret Davis, yesterday told Stabroek News during an interview that her grandson does not go by the alias “Cash Money” and had never had brushes with the law. She added that the name of Clarke’s father is Andre Clarke and not Godfrey Clarke as was reported in the press, including by Stabroek News. “I don’t know who Godfrey Clarke is and I don’t know who this Cash Money is,” a still in disbelief Davis said.
The information provided by the police was inaccurate, leading to Clarke being misidentified. As a result, Godfrey Clarke, believing it was his son who was fatally shot, told reporters that his son, Seon Clarke, had brushes with the law and was recently released from jail in relation to a simple larceny charge.
According to Davis, on Monday, when the family read the papers, they realised the published articles were incorrect and decided to come forward. It is unclear to her and the family why her grandson was at Pearl village and what had occurred.
The grandmother told Stabroek News that she and Seon live at John Street, Campbellville, Georgetown and not at Land of Canaan.
The woman said that on Sunday morning, she learned of Clarke’s death after returning home. “I was home and my daughter was coming and she start a hollering from the road. When she reached, she said, ‘Seon dead….’ Like I was left so shock, I ask her, ‘Seon dead?” a shaken Davis recounted.
The woman said the family eventually identified Clarke, who was shot to the abdomen.
Justice
She and other relatives said they would be pressing for justice to be served. “I look after him from since he was a baby. It was the two of us who use to live. I never know him as a criminal. He never ever got involved in such things… we never had to go to court,” Davis said.
An aunt, Roxanne Davis, questioned why the police are not looking for the person who committed the act. “We are looking for justice because it really shocked the family that he was killed even though he was not involved,” she said. “Is because you see a man is suspicious means you would shoot him? We have to get justice. The police needs to find the man that did the shooting,” she added.
Roxanne stated that the residents could have just caught her nephew like they did with his friend and hand them over to the police. She too affirmed that Seon, as far as she knew, was never involved with any illegal activity.
She said he would do construction work with his stepfather in Barbados, where his mother lives, and return to Guyana.
The police statement said that Clarke and his friend visited a grocery store and were allegedly behaving in a suspicious manner, prompting the owner of the business to run out to the road and raise an alarm. A police officer who was passing at the time responded to the alert and the men escaped into the surrounding bushes, it added.
During an ensuing search, police added, two loud explosions were heard but the two men remained elusive and were not found until later that night, around 11.30pm, on the Pearl Public Road, by members of the community. The statement said that Clarke was shot by a resident and his friend was beaten before they were handed over to the police.
The injured men were rushed to the Diamond Public Hospital, where Clarke was pronounced dead on arrival and his friend was treated for minor injuries and then taken into police custody.
On Monday the police reported that during investigations Clarke’s friend took investigators to a location at Pearl, where he handed over a .380 Beretta pistol with six matching rounds, along with two cellular phones.
Police yesterday told Stabroek News they are still investigating the matter and are still searching for the resident who shot Clarke.
