BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS a result of a June 26, 2010 article in which it was reported that a male and a female were shot in Soho Village, Damian Weekes and his mother Jacynth Francis visited SKNVibes and revealed their perception on the incident.
Weekes told SKNVibes that he, Sylvester Francis and three females, including Tafaya Grayman, a national of Antigua and Barbuda, had left the Friday night’s show of the 14th Annual St. Kitts Music Festival and were seated in Francis’ vehicle when a masked gunman fired a shot at them.
Weekes said the incident occurred at about 2:50 a.m. on Saturday, June 26 in Soho Village within the vicinity of Gary’s Fruits and Flowers.
“We left the Music Festival and walked to Soho Village, where Sylvester’s vehicle was parked. We had already planned that Sylvester would have taken us home. When we got into the vehicle, one of the ladies was sitting on the left rear seat and Tafaya on the right. I was sitting between them while Sylvester and the other lady were seated in front.
“As the vehicle was slowly moving off, a masked man came out from a clump of bushes and fired a shot at us. The bullet broke the left rear window, missed the lady on my left, grazed my left ear and I suspect that it exited through the right rear window which was open at the time. A fragment from the shattered window flew and cut Tafaya on her head,” Weekes said.
He further said that they had reported the matter at the Basseterre Police Station before going to the JNF Hospital, where he and Grayman were treated for their injuries and subsequently discharged.
“After Tafaya had cried out that her head was bleeding, we all thought that she was hit by the bullet. However, while being treated at the hospital, a medical personnel explained that the injury was not caused by a bullet but by a piece of glass from the shattered window. The wound carried five stitches,” Weekes added.
Weekes’ mother said that she and Grayman have been friends for some five years.
“Tafaya and I had met over five years ago when she came to attend the Music Festival. Since then she was accepted as a member of our family and would come every year to St. Kitts for the festival. This is the first time she’s experienced something of that nature in St. Kitts. She is traumatised and I sincerely hope that the incident would not deter her from returning,” Francis said.
Francis is of the view that the Soho Village incident is related to a previous one in which her son was shot. She believes that it was gang-related and is calling on the perpetrator(s) to desist from harming him, noting he is not criminal-oriented and is aspiring to be a successful entrepreneur and a dedicated father to his son.
“My son has a small business in Basseterre and he is currently working assiduously to make it a success. As a young entrepreneur, he interacts with everyone because everybody is a potential customer. Because of the nature of his business, he can’t afford to turn away people when they come to offer their patronage. How will he survive? The success of any business is highly dependent on excellent customer service; therefore, this is what my son practices but it seems as if some elements in the community disagree with his professional approach. I am therefore calling on those individuals who may be bent on harming my son to be considerate in their actions, and to leave him unharmed so that he can make life a success for himself and son. I am also certain that with the plans he has, he can become one of the young men in St. Kitts that many youths would strive to emulate,” Francis said.
Weekes is the owner of Four Ways Bar, situated at Union Alley in Haynes-Smith Village.
Recounting his ordeal on the night of Monday, September 14, 2009, Weekes said at about 9:30 he was standing outside his bar conversing with Laughton ‘Laffie’ Phillip and Nigel ‘Ayo’ Browne when he heard a number of shots being fired.
“I was just outside of my bar with my back turned to the alley. I was talking to Laffie and Ayo, when suddenly I heard gunshots being fired from the direction of the alley. I felt a searing pain in my upper right leg and I ran into a neighbour’s yard.
“I did not see who fired the shots. I cannot say if it was one man or more, but I was transported by a unit of the EMS to the hospital, where I later learned that Laffie was killed and Iho was shot in his right arm,” Weekes recounted.
The young entrepreneur explained that residents of McKnight and the Village are supporters of his business. However, in recent times there seemed to have been a falling out between some members of both communities who were still patrons of his business, and this had caused friction between him and some of them from both areas.
This, he said, may have been the reason why his business premises had been broken into on numerous occasions, which has increased since that eventful night.
Weekes further explained that he does not discriminate, especially when he needs the support of all to keep his business afloat. Therefore, “I have been selling my stuff to members of both communities, but some mischievous person or persons had been spreading false rumours that I am aiding and abetting criminals in the Village. I’m a businessman and I will sell my goods to anyone.”
He is also of the view that because of the rumours, some residents of the two feuding communities believe he is in support of one or the other and this may have been the reason for the two attempts on his life.
Weekes however, like his mother, wants everyone to know, especially residents of the two communities that his primary concern is working for an honest dollar in order to make his life and those of his dependents better, and not to be involved in any illegal activity or taking sides.
“I am therefore pleading to those individuals who may have their personal vendetta to leave me alone and let me continue living a peaceful life.
