Mother of slain man appeals to gunmen to stop the violence

Pearline Quashie feels as if her heart has literally been ripped from her chest.

The Redemption Sharpes resident is the mother of Kesron “Kezzy” Quashie, this country’s 21st murder for 2017.

“I am struggling with this. I don’t know when I will able to recover. If he was somebody who was bad, if he was a person who used to be on the street, it would not be so hard to deal with,” Quashie said on Wednesday, while sitting in the yard of her Redemption Sharpes home, a few feet from where her son was ambushed by gun toting bandits.

Kesron, father of an 11-month-old baby girl and a four-year-old boy, was shot three times in his lower body around 9 p.m. at Redemption Sharpes.

At the time of the shooting, Kesron was sitting in the road outside his home, playing dominoes with some friends. The group was approached by four masked gunmen, who opened fire on Kesron, hitting him in his genitals, thigh and buttock.

He was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) where he succumbed to his injuries.

This latest shooting is a surprise to several persons in the Redemption Sharpes community, most of whom say that Kesron was not known for being involved in gang related or violent activities.

Others, however, opine that the 23-year old’s murder was a revenge killing and fear that the community, which was plagued by shootings about seven years ago, will once again become the playground of gunmen.

Kesron’s death was the third gun related crime in the Central Kingstown constituency in three days. Last Saturday, August 12, Junior “Macho” Bibby, Kesron’s first cousin, was shot in the leg. Kareem Charles, another resident, was also shot three times on the same day.

During the interview, Pearline could not hold back her tears, as she wept for her son whom she described as a loving, generous man, who would do anything for anybody.

She said that sometime after 8 p.m. on Monday night, she was watching television, when automatic gunfire shattered the silence. “It sounded like they wanted to take down a whole mountain,” said Pearline.

She said that the gunfire was followed by an eerie silence and she immediately knew something was wrong.

“I rushed through the gate; I think that everyone was dead; everybody ran and I look and saw one of my sons coming towards me,” recalled Pearline.

She said that her two sons were at the same domino game, and although both ran, Kesron was hit.

“God never give you more than you could bear, because it could have been two of them. God had mercy on me,” said Pearline, who revealed that her son was baptized and she has hope that he made it into heaven.

“I can’t put my thoughts on what could have caused it. I just can’t”, said Pearline, who wants the gunmen to know that her family is not bent on revenge, as they are a Christian family.

“I am making an appeal to the men; we are not people who love fighting or not people who are like you. We do not carry weapons; we live free in a free country and I am appealing to the gunmen that this is not the time for violence; put down the weapons, because killing someone don’t solve problems and I don’t want it to continue,” stated Pearline.

She said that in this case, she is quite sure that the innocent paid for the guilty, but she fully believes that justice would be served.

Kesron would have celebrated his 24th birthday on November 29.(LC)