Woman finds kneeling husband dead

A WOMAN returned home at 1 am yesterday and saw her common-lawhusband in a kneeling position near a bed.  She thought he was praying. He was dead, shot through his left shoulder.  The Morvant man, who is said to have gone against a notorious gang in the Pelican Extension area was shot and killed on the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, police sources told Newsday yesterday. Dead is Declan Besson, 33, aka Fresh, of Halls Lane, Pelican Extension. His four-year-old son, Omari, escaped unhurt during the hail of gunfire.  The child was reportedly asleep at the time. Reports are that around midnight on Wednesday, residents who occupy the downstairs portion of the two-storey house heard several gunshots but refused to investigate.

Besson’s common-lawwife, Nikki Ayodelle returned from her workplace, Goodwood Racing Service, to find Besson in a crouched position near a bed.  She thought he was praying, but police said when Ayodelle touched him, she got no response. The young woman raised an alarm and neighbours contacted officers of the Morvant Police Station. A party of officers headed by acting Sr Supt Waldron Bishop visited the scene where they discovered Besson with a gunshot to his left shoulder blade. Police yesterday speculated that he might have been shot by someone who had called out to him, and as he turned his back in the gallery, was shot through the burglar proof. The bullet did not exit his body, and destroyed vital organs.  His body was later viewed by District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Samlal Boochay, who ordered its removal to the Forensic Science Centre.

At the Forensic Science Centre, Ayodelle said her son, Omari, who was asleep when his father was shot, later made several efforts to wake his father, but the child got no response. “He (Omari) keeps telling me to stop crying,” Ayodelle said as Omari stood between her and his grandfather, Ivan “Shine” Frederick, who is Besson’s father. He was baffled at the shooting death of his son. “It’s a mystery,” Frederick said. he police, however, have painted a different picture of Besson, saying he used to hang out with a notorious gang and, some of the gang’s members have been charged for the June 18 murder of Trevor Bermudez, 33, aka Yankee.  Police said Besson was questioned in connection with the Bermudez killing, and had apparently gone against the gang, which is believed to have committed several murders in the Pelican Extension area. Lawmen also said that Besson was involved in drugs and that his house was searched earlier this year for firearms and ammunition, but nothing illegal was found. Besson’s murder is now the 168th for the year, four shy of last year’s toll which stood at 172. No arrests had been made up to late evening and Cpl Thomas of the Morvant CID is continuing investigations.