Crime rate is definitely out of control, says grieving mother

When Marilene Estephane heard about the murder of Kyron Sylvester on the morning of Wednesday, October 19, she felt sad for his family, but little did she know that she would have her own grief to deal with later that day.

Sometime before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Marilene’s son, Edward ‘Fox’ Estephane, {{more}}32, was gunned down at Diamond at the home he shared with his mother and other family members.

He became the nation’s 26th murder victim for the year and the second person to be fatally wounded by gunshots that day. He was shot about four times, with the fatal shot apparently going through his neck and exiting through his head.

Edward was shot by a lone gunman in a yellow jersey and a white shirt or piece of cloth around his head that did not hide his face.

Marilene said that her son, who turned 32 on August 2, was a cool and loving person.

She was at work when she heard the news that her son had been killed.

“He was cool with everybody for that matter. I might not be able to describe him because he is my son, but everybody else have good to say about him,” said Marilene while sitting at her Diamond home on Thursday morning, a few feet away from where her son was shot.

According to the grieving mother, “there is no way that I could explain how I feel.”

She said that she has five children and Edward was the youngest and had no children.

Marilene last spoke to her son on Wednesday morning sometime after 6, when she asked him to clean his room and he conceded, after which he gave her EC$50 and told her to buy herself some lunch.

She said that when grievous incidents like this happen, the parents and loved ones of the victim are the ones who pay the price.

“Oh boy…you don’t even have to ask, it is definitely, it is definitely out of control,” Marilene said of the crime rate in the country at the moment.

She added, “You walk down the road and before you could say ‘beep’ they ready to kill you and is the only thing they saying, ‘man ah go kill you’ and it’s like it is a trend; they have no control anymore, there is no control with the young persons anymore. I don’t know what is going on.”

Marilene, who moved to St Vincent from St Lucia 38 years ago said that her son was born here and she will miss him greatly.

“They are my spoil babies; I take care of them,” said the grieving mother.

Edward’s shooting followed that of Kyron Sylvester who was shot in his head around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. He was slaughtered while sitting in his vehicle in his yard in the Glen/Villa area. He was 19 years old.

Police are investigating both murders. (LC)