Cousins killed following incident at football match

A family is mourning the loss of two of their own who were shot multiple times by unknown assailant(s) on the night of Friday, April 29.
Kishroy Duke, 22 years old of Choppins who also goes by the name “World”, and Vandyke Mayers, a 42-year-old labourer of Choppins who is called ‘Papa’ were cousins.

They were close and known to do a lot of things together and their family says they will also be buried together.

According to reports, everything started to go amiss at a football game at the Calliaqua Playing Field. There was an argument on that night, and ‘Papa’ was said to have been involved in trying to calm the situation while ‘World’ did not get involved.

Later that night ‘World’s’ brother was walking along the Golden Vale public road a significant distance behind his brother and Mayers.

“Could just hear bam, bam, bam, bam. Gunshot start to fire,” Darrio Duke said, and he ran towards the sound.

When he got closer he saw a shadow of his brother in the road trying to get up and he had to use his cell phone light to see.

‘Papa’ wasn’t discovered until later and the suspicion is that he had run when gunshots started being fired.

It is thought that there were around seven to eight gunshots. It is estimated that three bullets connected with ‘World’ while ‘Papa’ received more shot.
‘World’ was unresponsive in the hospital for a day before succumbing to his injuries on Saturday, April 30, while ‘Papa’ was pronounced dead on the scene of the shooting.

The whole family, a close knit unit, says that this time is very hard for them.

‘World’s brother said that his father has not been coping well; he has been drinking and when he gets intoxicated asks if ‘World’ has come home as yet.
“Today for identify my nephew body, that hit me,” Merlene Duke said about her visit to the morgue on Tuesday, May 3 to identify ‘Papa’.

“The doctor ah block me, cah he hear me done start to cry and start to ting he just tell me go out,” she recalled.

She said that was when it hit her that, “…Look me nephew and me cousin gone just so. We expect them for come home back, we don’t expect them for go in in a body bag. We don’t expect that.”

“It’s a hard, hard road we going down right now, very hard,” Dana Mayers, cousin to both deceased men, said.

“Trying to go whatever we going through here is a hard, hard road we going through, very painful, – even self know how we functioning right now but by the grace of God we going through with it but it very, very hard,” she commented.

“…to say two family one time gone. Very hard. It’s more like we talk about it the more we cry,” she revealed.

The cousin also disclosed that “…This worse than if you get headache and then you go tek two tablets. That pain there can’t move outta we head, it can’t move. Even couple years pass the pain still dey dey.”

Elias, also known as ‘Beardsman’ was ‘World’s’ employer at the AMJ tyre shop in Calliaqua.

Reflecting on how Duke started working at the tyre shop ‘Beardsman’ said, “He didn’t know about tyres, he never work in a tyre shop, he was a bush guy, rearing animals so we needed a guy and he was sitting right there so I told my cousin that we give him a try, so my cousin ask me now you think he go mek it? I say well we give him a try. So we start, man pass the two weeks, learning quick, humble, helpful respectful, gentle man.”

“If you ask him for something quick, quick, quick he don’t stick,” the employer said, “…have no problem with nothing, always have a big smile.”

Since the killing ‘Beardsman’ disclosed that the incident has been on his mind as they work together seven days a week.

He emphasised, “I don’t have nothing bad to say at all, at all because we never see nothing bad.”