The mother of Rockey Sawh, the teenager who was fatally shot in his head allegedly by his friend during a sleepover in Kitty on Tuesday night is calling for justice and questions are being asked as to why it took hours for the boy to be taken to the hospital
“I as a mother just asking for justice for my son. It can’t go down just like that without me knowing what happen. I want justice for my son,” Amrita Panday yesterday said.
During an interview with Stabroek News, Panday said since the incident, she had one interaction with the police.
To date, she said she is not in receipt of any details about the investigation, despite attempts to enquire. “They (police) told me, we have to hold on. Nothing else. Nobody ain’t call… nothing,” Panday said.
Fifteen-year-old Sawh, a resident of Lot 45 David Street, Kitty, succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) on Wednesday afternoon, hours after he was reportedly accidentally shot by his 17-year-old friend at Sandy Babb Street, Kitty.
Sawh was shot once in his head during the incident which occurred sometime between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday.
Police Commander of Region 4A Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean had previously told Stabroek News that the police received a report of the incident around 2 am Wednesday.
According to McBean, investigations thus far revealed that Sawh and the 17-year-old suspect were present at the suspect’s Sandy Babb Street home, when the suspect allegedly accidentally shot Sawh in his head.
He said the wound was inflicted with a gun belonging to the suspect’s father, who is a licensed firearm holder.
The suspect was later arrested and is presently in police custody assisting with the investigation. The police are expected to seek legal advice on the way forward in the matter soon.
The police in a press statement had said that investigations revealed that the friends had just finished having a meal, when the suspect breached the lock of a wardrobe where his father’s .32 licensed pistol was being kept.
“After retrieving same, he then showed it to (the) victim and accidently pulled the trigger,” the police said.
“Too late”
Doctors reportedly related to Panday that if Sawh was taken to the hospital immediately after the incident, efforts could have been made to save his life.
Panday told Stabroek News that based on what she understands, Sawh was only taken to the hospital about three to four hours after the incident.
She explained that after she learnt of the incident and arrived at the hospital, doctors told her that there wasn’t anything they could do to save Sawh since it was too late. “If when it been happen and they carry the child right away, he could have been saved,” the weeping woman said.
“When I reach at the hospital, they just said that he got shot in his right side head and the swelling (brain). Well his whole body did done shut down…He had a good heartbeat and they push tubes for him to breathe and that was it. They told me to just wait on the message till his heart stopped,” Panday explained.
She further related to this newspaper that she was told that after the incident, the suspect telephoned his mother, who travelled from West Bank Demerara and reportedly took him away from the scene.
Sawh was left there bleeding. “I don’t know how or whatever, but he reach at the hospital,” Panday said.
It is unclear if the suspect and Sawh were alone at the time when the shooting occurred. However, Stabroek News was informed that the suspect lives with his father.
Panday had previously told this newspaper that when she returned home from work on Tuesday, Sawh asked her permission to sleep over at the suspect’s house and she agreed.
“He (Sawh) asked me to go over and spend the night and I said fine because he doesn’t normally go over,” she had said. The following morning, she said she learnt that he had been shot.
Panday further told Stabroek News that neither of the suspect’s parents has expressed any sympathy about what transpired. She said while at the hospital on Wednesday, she saw the suspect’s mother.
“If was an accident, she (suspect mother) looked me in my eyes yesterday (Wednesday) and walked away. She didn’t even say A, B or dog”, Panday said.
She added that Sawh’s father also attempted to speak to the suspect’s mother but she refused to engage him. “He just go to ask to talk to her and she don’t want to talk.” Panday added.
Say something
“All I saying, I want justice. Let them come out and say something. Tell me something, tell the father something because I put it, if was she son I woulda been there, I woulda been there all the time to see what I can help. I am here alone trying to hold it with my other two sons. So I just begging for justice,” Panday explained.
The police retrieved a .32 Taurus pistol with seven matching rounds, a spent shell and 149 .32 rounds at the scene.
A post-mortem examination is scheduled for today.
