An autopsy on Wednesday revealed that Winston Fraser, who was shot by the police during an operation in 2020 died as a result of septicaemia due to the gunshot wound.
His wife, Detra Walters confirmed the findings of the autopsy which was performed on Wednesday. “…It’s like inflammation within the blood stream whereby his body was poisoned,” Walters told Stabroek News.
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.
Fraser was paralysed from his waist down as a result of the shooting. He succumbed at his East La Penitence, Georgetown home last Friday.
Walters had previously told Stabroek News that she believed that his 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 had said.
Prior to his death, Walters had said that Fraser was in and out of hospital. His last hospitalization was in December last year during which he was admitted for more than one month. Fraser had three surgeries done.
Up to now, Walters said no one from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has ever reached out to her offering any form of compensation.
She had said she utilised their savings to take care of Fraser until his death since she ended up quitting her job.
As such, Walters said she cannot handle the funeral expense at the moment. “No one has contacted me…I asked the companies where he worked but they said there is nothing they can do….I don’t even know who to address at this point, honestly. They (GPF) didn’t even reach out. Even after death,” the distressed Walters told Stabroek News on Wednesday.
Efforts by Stabroek News to contact the GPF to enquire whether the Fraser family will be provided with any compensation proved futile.
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.
