Winston Fraser, one of the two men who was shot by the police during an operation in July 2020, succumbed at his East La Penitence, Georgetown home last Friday.
During a telephone interview with Stabroek News, Fraser’s wife, Detra Walters said that she believes that her husband’s death is linked to injuries he sustained as a result of the shooting.
“His life was taken away at a very young age. I mean it was not yesterday he got shot but then again as a result of that he got damage. That caused complication within his body. The body tried to fight whatever was happening inside. If he wasn’t shot he would have been alive today because he would have been a healthy man,” she said.
The shooting which had occurred around 1.30 am on July 25th, 2020 had resulted in the death of Fraser’s friend, Cecil Sampat.
The police had said that three police officers on patrol observed a large gathering at the junction of Agricola Road and the East Bank Highway. The police asked that the crowd disperse, however, at the time the police also witnessed a fight between two men, one of whom whipped out a gun and pointed it in the direction of the other while trying to make his escape in a car bearing registration number PYY 4432.
As a result, the police chased after the vehicle. The pursuit ended at D’Urban Street and Mandela Avenue. There, the first GPF patrol requested that the vehicle’s occupants lie on the ground while the other officers made their way to the scene. The report by the police did not state when or how the men were shot but that two men who were injured were escorted to the hospital by the police.
The two injured men nursing gunshot wounds to their backs, were identified as Sampat and Fraser. Fraser suffered a gunshot wound to his upper back, while Sampat, who was said to be a passenger of the car seated at the left side of the backseat, suffered gunshot wounds to his lower back.
The other two occupants of the car were 22-year-old Joshua Letlow, of East Ruimveldt, and 23-year-old Seon Greenidge, a blockmaker. Greenidge was said to be a passenger in the front seat of the car.
The shooting left Fraser paralysed from his waist down. Doctors had previously advised that there was a 50% probability that he would die if surgery was attempted to remove the fragments of a warhead lodged near his spine. They had also said it was impossible for Fraser to walk again.
Walters told Stabroek News that prior to his death, Fraser was in and out of hospital. “It was hard because one time he was receiving blood a lot because his body was low. Another time he had a stomach issue, another time he had to do surgery so it was rough,” she said.
His last hospitalization was in December last year during which he was admitted for more than one month.
Fraser had three surgeries done. “The first was after he got shot and the two others was done in January. His foot bone had popped out the pocket,” Walters said.
She related that Fraser died in her arms while she was attending to him. “He died while I was taking care of him. He was hungry and he wanted something to eat….It had soup and while hotting up the soup, I make some cherry juice that he had in the fridge. He took like three sips of the juice and then I went back to the kitchen…I fed him like five spoons and then he start groan…I see he head start to fall….he died in my arms,” the woman cried.
According to Walters, she found it rough to take care of Fraser since she also had to work to provide for them.
Eventually, she said she ended up quitting her job. “I was in and out of jobs recently…I had to lef February gone and was without a job for a period of like a month. Then I started to get too weary and tired because working night and having to take care of him, not enough rest was traumatic,” Walter said.
During the period, Walters said she used their savings to purchase the daily necessities for Fraser. “I would have been without job and we would have used the savings…..He had to get pampers and a lot of other stuff,” she added.
As such, Walters said she cannot handle the funeral expense at the moment.
Following the shooting, Walters said the police never contacted her.
Two police ranks; police constable Troy Munroe and Police Corporal Godwin Thomas were charged with the murder of Sampat. However, months after, they were freed after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew the joint charge.
Munroe was charged with manslaughter and released on bail.
