The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Once again the families of the four persons killed on the 27th December, 2013, in Fox Hill are forced to endure another Christmas season without any resolution or closure on the murder of their family members.

Once again these families must live through the loneliness and emptiness of feeling that their loved ones died in vain. And once more the Fox Hill community must wonder if their friends and family members will ever receive justice.

The old adage “Justice delayed is Justice denied” is most relevant in this sad saga. Eight years after these horrific murders the families and the Fox Hill community cannot seem to receive any justice.

A trial started in early 2020 was cut short reportedly because of the COVID pandemic.

This pandemic gets blamed seemingly for everything in the Bahamas and gives cover to a multitude of incompetence. Preliminary evidence in 2020 at the start of the trial showed that four types of weapons were used in the mass shootings.

This indicates that there may have been at least four shooters or one or two of the shooters used more than one weapon. This level of cold-bloodedness and mayhem is unheard of in the Bahamas.

I assumed that this mayhem would have attracted greater priority and attention by the law enforcement institutions.

The two leading law enforcement institutions in The Bahamas have been almost dysfunctional and severely impaired.

Both the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Attorney General’s Office/Office of Director of Public Prosecutions are fundamentally essential for law and order to prevail. In my view both have been unfortunately politicised.

In the Royal Bahamas Police Force the executive branch has either sent home senior officers to early retirement or transferred officers to other government agencies.

In lieu of any evidence of malfeasance it would appear the decision to remove the officers from the service of the Force was simply a political one.

In the Judiciary the executive branch has appointed known political supporters to the Supreme Court bench.

Moreover, lawyers who served as parliamentarians were appointed directly as Supreme Court Justices.

Is there any surprise then that the turmoil in the law enforcement institutions manifests itself as retribution and violence on the streets?

Some people forget that in the December 2013 incident in Fox Hill, in addition to the four persons who were murdered, seven other persons were shot.

One of the wounded men was in and out of surgery for more than a year after the incident.

Eleven innocent persons shot who were doing nothing more than hanging out waiting for the results of a junkanoo parade. The wait for junkanoo results is the subject for another day.

The shootings have left the Fox Hill community traumatised. Fewer people now gather on the parks in Fox Hill. The two parks are the hub and centre for most functions in Fox Hill.

The Emancipation Day and Fox Hill Day activities have witnessed a decrease in the number of patrons who attend these events since the December 27th 2013 incident.

The mother of one of the victims died a year or two after the murders and I have no doubt that she died from a broken heart.

The mother of one of the other victims told me that her family cannot bear to remain in the Bahamas during the Christmas holidays as it is much too painful for them.

This is no way for this close-knit community to live. The trauma will not dissipate unless or until justice is served.

Claudezino Davis, Shaquille Demeritte, Eric Morrison and Shenique Sands and the other seven persons who were injured in the incident deserve justice so that their families could realise some bit of peace in their lives.

The justice and peace they are entitled to should not be dependent on the internal machinations of law enforcement and the justice system.

This has been hanging over the heads of the families in Fox Hill for far too long.

MAURICE TYNES

Nassau,

December 14, 2021.