The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE former girlfriend of a man who was shot and killed in the Carmichael area on Friday night believes he was a victim of mistaken identity.

While officials have not yet released the man’s name, Magalie Petit-Blanc, the mother of the victim’s two-year-old child, said he is 23-year-old Sammy Pierre.

His death has shocked everyone who knew him, she said.

Police said they were called to a shooting incident that occurred on Montgomery Avenue, Flamingo Gardens shortly after 10pm Friday.

Upon their arrival, they found an unresponsive adult male lying on the western side of the street with apparent gunshot wounds.

When Emergency Medical Services visited the scene, they examined the body and pronounced the man lifeless.

“Initial investigations revealed that the victim was walking along Montgomery Avenue when he was approached by a lone gunman who discharged the weapon in his direction, fatally wounding him,” police reported. “The suspect fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction”.

When The Tribune yesterday visited the scene, Ms Petit-Blanc said she was heartbroken upon hearing the news of her ex-boyfriend’s death.

Speaking through an interpreter, the young mother said Mr Pierre was adopted and “didn’t really have any family” in the country. She also described him as a “fun person” who adored his daughter.

“He came here earlier that day before he got killed,” she continued. “He was chilling and he was dancing, drinking and playing with his little girl. When it was time for him to go home, he rest her down and she was crying because she wanted to go with him, but he told her ‘No I cannot carry you because I have to go to work in the morning.’

“So that night he walked by himself, and he went home and on his way home, a lady around here came running and she say: ‘Sammy get shot! Y’all hear Sammy get shot?’ So, when I heard that, I leave my daughter in the house, and I ran to go by the scene. Then we heard Sammy dead. I was crying and rolling because they say Sammy got kill”.

Ms Petit-Blanc insisted Pierre “did not bother anybody”. She added that his unexpected death was not sitting well with her because “two to one”, it was caused by “mistaken identity”.

“Sammy was adopted. He don’t really have no family over here and he don’t bother nobody,” she insisted. “I’m taking it hard even though I’m taking care of my daughter alone, because at the end of the day, Sammy was a good dad. He was actually giving his little girl love. He took her places where she had never been and he’d come for her and carry her to the mall, carry her for food and play.

Ms Petit-Blanc said Mr Pierre’s death was “shocking” everybody who knew him because he was not a “troublesome person”.

“If he run on with you, he’ll run on with you and then he’ll walk off and then the next day he’ll talk to you,” she said. “He don’t hold no beef with nobody. I don’t think he was targeted for any reason, it probably was mistaken identity. He’s a fun person. He liked to dance, he liked to drink – that was all him. He was a people’s person,” she said.