The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE sister of a 22-year-old man who was killed in Exuma on Thursday night said her brother, Malik Fernander, relocated to the island to work and provide a better life for his unborn child.

Mr Fernander was on bail after being charged in 2018 with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Residents of Exuma said the killing was alarming for the close-knit and peaceful community.

Alexis Taylor told The Tribune on Friday that even though her brother had made mistakes in the past through his involvement in crime, he tried to make a positive change by moving to the Family Island.

Police said shortly after 11pm on Thursday, gunshots were heard in the Rolleville, Exuma area.

A check of the area was conducted, which revealed the body of Mr Fernander, who had sustained multiple gunshot injuries, lying on a track road.

At present, police are uncertain of the circumstances surrounding the incident.

While investigations continue, they appealed to anyone with information to come forward.

Ms Taylor described her late brother as someone who was family-oriented and loved them dearly.

The grieving sister said: “He honestly went to Exuma to try to do better for him and his family. He had a baby on the way.”

Mr Fernander originally lived in New Providence, but moved to Exuma in hopes of a more fruitful future, Ms Taylor said.

She said her brother had been in prison at one point in his life, but he came to the realisation that a life of crime was not right for him.

“Everybody makes mistakes. Yes, he was locked up for a while and then he came out realising that he didn’t want to go on that path anymore. And he tried to take a different route,” Ms Taylor said.

Julian Marshall, a businessman, said that as the island has started to develop, there have been changes, some worse than others.

“Exuma is moving; we are becoming so commercialised and a lot of different factions are coming in now,” Mr Marshall said.

 “We never had this kind of stuff; it’s sad. I guess it comes with the territory when you start to see this economic growth going on in Exuma… it’s going to attract lot of people from different walks of life.

When asked if he believed the island was still safe following this recent murder, Mr Marshall responded: “Here is still relatively safe. I still know basically everybody on the island. But then you have these guys coming in from Nassau. And you don't even know who they are. They may be undercover or probably only their relatives know them and what they were into.”

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said they were shocked at the murder and found the news devastating.

“This is something that is unusual to the residents of the island because very seldom do murders occur on the island. These are very tight-knit communities and when something of this nature happens it raises great concern to Exuma residents,” they said.

The resident added that people may have disputes with each other, but it does not get to the point where someone is violently killed, adding there is now a need for more police presence on the island.

Kenneth Bowe, owner of owner of Chat 'N' Chill Adventures, said businesses are concerned about the recent murder, noting it was not normal to have something so gruesome happen in Exuma.

“We as business people are concerned now that with the strong economy in Exuma and the need for people we have a problem that not only are the good showing up, but the bad as well,” Mr Bowe said.

“If you own a business now, you've got to be worried about when you close up going home. We have quite a few homes being built by foreigners as well as local Bahamians, but now we have to do things differently,” he said.

“We have to lock our doors; this never used to happen. I think in these communities we're going to need to have more police presence.”

The latest killing has pushed country’s murder count to 117, according to The Tribune’s records.

It follows a series of recent violent incidents in the country.

On November 9, a 53-year-old man was shot dead outside his Kool Acres home.

On November 4, a man believed to be in his mid-20s or early 30s was shot in his car at Palm Breeze Drive.

On November 2, a German man, identified as 57-year-old Torsten Hendrick, was killed and another, a relative, was seriously injured in a double shooting in Kemp’s Bay, Andros.