Family Court secretary shot multiple times while doing laundry

The shooting death of Velorne Samuel has been described by her sister as a “gruesome act”.{{more}}

“It was an innocent death. Who animal will want to kill her like that?” Jervesa Samuel asked during a telephone conversation with SEARCHLIGHT yesterday.

After learning about her sister’s death last week, Jervesa returned to St Vincent from New York, where she resides.

She described her sister as a humble individual and said that they had a very close relationship.

The two last spoke the Sunday before Velorne died, she disclosed.

“I really don’t know what else to say right now, and I don’t wish to say anything else at this time,” the elder sister added.

Velorne, a 36-year old mother of three children, one boy and two girls, was shot about her body multiple times, while she was on the back porch of her rented home in Evesham, on the night of Thursday,  September, 5.

According to police reports, Velorne, who was a secretary at the Family Court, was doing laundry when she was shot by an unknown assailant.

She is originally from Vermont and had resided for some time in Barrouallie, with her husband and children.

At press time yesterday, head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sydney James told SEARCHLIGHT that no one has been arrested and investigations are continuing.

One of Velorne’s neighbours told SEARCHLIGHT during a visit to Evesham last Friday that she heard eight shots fired sometime after 8 p.m.

“Gun shots firing off in the night are a regular thing around here. So when I heard the shots I didn’t take it for anything,” the neighbor explained.

“It was after a while, I heard the dogs barking, barking, and a little while after, I heard someone shouting, somebody get shot by the house up there.”

The neighbor said when she arrived on the scene, she saw Samuel’s body on the floor of her back porch in a pool of blood, with her towel wrapped around her.

According to the neighbour, Samuel had moved to the Evesham area only one month ago.

“She was a cool person from when I know her for the short time,” the neighbor added.

Samuel and her three children, 11-year-old J’ne, eight-year-old Javel and six- year-old Jenia, resided in the three bedroom wall structure at Evesham. (AA)