Youth shot, killed in Georgetown

Nineteen-year-old Odinga Collins was asleep on the living room floor of his grandmother’s house in Mount Bentick, Georgetown, when he received a call to ‘go check out the scene’ down the road.

It was the night of the Miss North Windward Beauty Pageant, and hundreds if not thousands of persons would have been at the Spotlight Stadium to take in the action as the area carnival kicked off.{{more}}

They got more than they bargained for.

Collins was in the company of some of his friends at a newly opened diner when he was called by other friends to hang out at an area close to the stadium.

While standing with his friends, a masked gunman approached Collins and fired several shots in his direction.



About one hour after Collins left home, he was dead from a bullet to the back, and two others suffered minor injuries.

Two days later at his grandmother’s house, family friends and well wishers came by to pay their respects and talk about ‘Oda’ as he was called.

Many expressed sadness after hearing about the incident, which most had in some way or the other expected.

According to his grandmother ‘Linno’, young Collins was warned by friends and family about going outside that night. But he was reassured by other friends that he would be safe with them.

Collins was not a stranger to trouble, seeing that he had gotten in an altercation late last year, and it is believed by many who were at the residence on Monday that this may have been the reason for the shooting.

Oda dropped out of the Georgetown Secondary School a few years ago, opting for the ‘Thug Life’ instead of a formal education. He was known to have gotten in skirmishes on many occasions, usually in defence of his colleagues.

The youngster, whose mother passed away three years ago, leaves behind three younger sisters, two of whom celebrated their 10th and fifth birthdays on Tuesday.

Up to press time police have detained a number of suspects for questioning, as investigations continue. (JJ)