A Bushy Park, East Coast Demerara (ECD) farmer was brutally chopped to death on Saturday night after he tried to calm a man who was allegedly on his way to attack another man.
The dead man has been identified as David Micah called ‘Big Mouth’, 40, a farmer of Lot 9 Bushy Park, ECD.
Police yesterday said that Micah’s attacker, a 20-year-old mason of Lot 1 and 2 Belmont, Mahai-cony, has been arrested and is presently in custody assisting with the investigation. According to a statement from the police, the suspect while at ‘Goat Bar’, which is located at Cottage, ECD, was involved in an altercation with a patron. During the altercation, the patron dealt the suspect several slaps causing him to get angry.
As a result, he rushed home and armed himself with a cutlass. He “was exiting his yard when he was confronted by the deceased who he [alleged] was armed with a knife and told him he will stab him up,” the statement said. It added that the suspect then dealt Micah several chops about his head, injuring him.
Eyewitnesses told Stabroek News that they are unaware of the allegation made against Micah by the suspect.
One woman, Amanda Sealey, told Stabroek News that the fatal chopping occurred at Antone’s Shop, which is located in front of the suspect’s residence. She said that during the course of the night, the suspect was drinking at Goat Bar with others and got annoyed after a patron told him to “relax he self.”
“The song ‘Run wid it’ come and he picked up a man bicycle and the man took away his bicycle from him. He disturbed a few other people and they told him to calm down. I don’t know about any slapping but I was standing right on the road and I didn’t see anything but he left and went home,” Sealey said, while recalling that the suspect was intoxicated.
She added that while she was on the road, she heard screaming and a person passed and told her that ‘Big Mouth’ was chopped.
“I hurry up the road but not directly to the scene and I sent a man on a motorcycle to call the police. I don’t know what happened between the two of them,” she added.
Fredrick Micah, David’s twin brother related to this publication that a car pulled up at their home at around 11.45pm on Satur-day and when he answered, he was told that his brother was murdered.
“With that, I come out, jump in the car and speed up the road. I passed a man in the middle of the road and went to the crowd and when I asked ‘where my brother deh’. They tell me is where the man standing. So I turn around and went back to where the man was standing on the road and ask he ‘where my brother deh’ and he tell me ‘he on the ground deh’,” Fredrick recounted.
He said that when he saw his brother, he stepped out of the car and touched him and got no reaction.
“I turn and ask he ‘you murder meh brother’ and I pick up a beer bottle and rush up to he but he go to attack me and then the people from the crowd come and pull me aside,” he added.
Police response
Fredrick lamented that the police took a lengthy time to respond to the crime despite the fact that they were minutes away, operating a roadblock.
Stabroek News was told by both Sealey and Fredrick that they had to call the police on two occasions before they arrived on the scene.
Sealey said the police had set up a roadblock at Cottage Village and were approximately three minutes away from the scene of the crime but they failed to respond.
“I went back with the motorcycle man and I tell them I am not moving how long they ain’t leave to go on the murder. I wait deh till they move off,” she said.
Fredrick said the police took almost two hours to arrive on the scene and he had to quarrel with them before they started to investigate.
After the police arrived on the scene, the suspect reportedly charged at them during their attempt to arrest him. It was after they pointed their guns at him that he composed himself and surrendered.
Fredrick added that he picked up his brother, who had chops to his right shoulder, left arm, left side of his head, left ear to the back of his head, one above his left ear, one to the front of his head, and one to the middle of his head, and took him to the Mahaicony Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The brother added further that at the hospital, he asked an officer to check the amount of money in Micah’s wallet but the policeman refused to do so.
“My brother draw pay yesterday [Saturday] so he had money on him. The police ask me is who and I tell he ‘I am the brother’ and he turn and tell me a close relative have to come and identify him and collect his belongings,” Fredrick said. He added that when he went to the Mahaicony police station yesterday morning to uplift his brother’s identification card from his wallet, he was told that he has to return.
“I don’t understand what these police at the station doing. They tell me I have to wait till tonight [Sunday] when the shift change to come back. They don’t want us to get his belongings. They carry away his motorcycle that was on the scene and said we can’t collect nothing from it,” a visibly upset Fredrick said.
Micah’s body is currently at the Mahaicony Hospital mortuary awaiting a post mortem examination.
