The wife of Troy Simmons, the man who was fatally shot by a security guard after an attempted robbery at the GuyGas Inc. complex at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara (EBD), says she is seeking justice for him as she believes he was murdered.
“He bad—he does like fight and so—but anybody you could ask and they would tell you he is not the type of person to be involved in robberies. He does catch fish and mind he lil stocks. He is a hustler,” Amanda Emmanuel told Stabroek News.
Simmons, 37, of Sea Dam, Covent Garden, EBD, was fatally shot by a security guard early Tuesday morning after he and two others allegedly attempted to rob the GuyGas Inc. Complex.
Commander of ‘A’ Division Clifton Hicken told Stabroek News on Thursday that the police were still pursuing the two persons who were with Simmons when he was fatally shot.
Stabroek News was told that during the wee hours of Tuesday morning, three men were observed scaling the GuyGas fence by the security guard at the rear of the compound.
Upon noticing the intruders, the armed guard reportedly discharged several rounds in their direction.
While two of the bandits escaped, the other reportedly opened fire at the security guard, who discharged several more rounds in his direction.
Simmons, who was shot to his head and chest, was discovered around 5.35 am on Tuesday in a clump of bushes behind the fence of the GuyGas property, when the police returned to the scene to conduct searches.
Emmanuel, who is Simmons’ common-law wife, told Stabroek News that she was clueless about the events leading up to his death.
She also said that when she asked the persons her husband went out to sea with, she was given different accounts.
The woman said one of the men told her “they went somewhere up suh and they had some flinging and everybody separated and they don’t know where he is.”
She said she thought nothing of it until she returned from work and noticed that Simmons had not returned.
At this point, she explained, she made contact with a niece and informed her of what she had learned and they launched a search. During their enquiries, she stated, they learnt of the shooting in the vicinity of GuyGas Inc. compound at Land of Canaan, which was the same area where Simmons had gone fishing. Although she had been told no one had died in the shooting, an in-law subsequently informed her that someone did after watching the news.
“Wednesday morning we went to the Timehri Police Station and the police officers escorted us to the mortuary and his sister went in, saw him and walked out… I done know was he and I drop down by the door. I couldn’t a see him,” the grieving Emmanuel explained.
Asked if Simmons had any brushes with the law, Emmanuel said no but quickly added that he was taken to court after being involved in a fight.
The woman said she is seeking justice and answers for the man, who was a father of three. “I don’t know the correct story and the police say they still investigating… I waiting for answers. He did not deserve to die,” she said, while sobbing.
