Police have been granted more time to question the person held in connection with the murder of 10-year-old Anthony Cort, who was shot dead during a robbery in Sophia last Thursday.
During a telephone interview with this newspaper, Denise McPherson, Cort’s mother of Lot 614 Packet Corner, ‘C’ Field, Sophia, said that she is still traumatized by the events which took place on March 12.
Cort died after being shot by one of two bandits who invaded his neighbour’s Lot 612 Packet Corner, ‘C’ Field, Sophia home, where he and his mother were visiting.
The Guyana Police Force had said that at the time of the home invasion, Cort was in the upper flat of businesswoman Monette Famey’s house along with Famey’s son, while Famey herself, her aunt, Ena Skerette and Cort’s mother, Denise McPherson, were in the bottom flat. However, the bandits held the women at gun point and later took them upstairs after relieving them of their valuables. It was while the women continued to deny the existence of other valuables in the home that Cort reportedly stepped out of a room and was shot by the bandit.
A post-mortem examination yesterday found that the cause of the boy’s death was a gunshot injury to the chest.
The police have said that one suspect has been arrested and is currently detained. On Friday, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told this newspaper that a suspect was arrested, while yesterday the police reported that permission to extend the detention of the suspect was granted by a court. The police also said that it is continuing the search for two other suspects.
McPherson has since collected the body and is trying to organise a spot for his burial.
Having witnessed her son’s life being snuffed out before her eyes, McPherson remains traumatised by the horrific reality of her only son’s murder.
She told Stabroek News yesterday that because she was in the same room with her son when he was shot and killed, the memory still plays in her mind. She said that while she is trying to cope with losing a second child, “it is something I will have to live with until I reach the grave. I will have to take it to the grave.”
Cort is the second child of hers to have been murdered. In 2015 her daughter, Alicia McPherson, was murdered.
The woman noted that her three daughters are also trying to come to terms with the death of their brother. She explained that the two older daughters are aware of the situation but that her youngest daughter is still too young to understand.
The saddened mother said that she wants justice for her son. She added that even though having the perpetrators behind bars will not bring her son back, she wants to have them brought to justice for the crime committed.
Previously, McPherson told this newspaper that when she was leaving her home to go to the shop Cort asked to accompany her as he is friends with the businesswoman’s son. When this newspaper visited the shop yesterday, Famey said that she has not started to recover from the events of last Thursday.
President Irfaan Ali, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, Ministers and other Members of Parliament have visited the now dead boy’s home and expressed condolences to the family.
