Gun talk, gun play, murders

This is the chain of event that led to the slaying of Disc Jockey Jerome Vickers, 27, and his cousin-in-law Kevin Rama, 31. The incident took place at a bikini car at Kinshasa’s Restaurant and Bar off the Southern Main Road in Curepe and also involved an off-duty policeman who pursued the gunman firing his weapon, but was hit in the leg by return fire. The officer is said to be in a stable condition at hospital.

According to witnesses an argument which broke out between two men spiralled into a violent brawl and ended with the shooting. Vickers was a DJ with radio station 96.1 FM and also a construction worker, while Rama was an upholsterer and father of a nine-year-old boy. Police are still on the hunt for the killer. The double murder began as cross talk between two men over a woman, who was at the restaurant and bar, which was the venue for the bikini car wash and party at which Vickers and his younger brother were hired as deejays.

Newsday was told that the younger brother was playing music at the venue, when he noticed the young woman watching him. He approached her and began a conversation, but ended the talk when a man walked up and demanded to know what the conversation was about. When Vickers’ brother pulled out a cellular phone and began talking, the other man challenged him, saying if he (Vickers’ brother) was calling for “back up”, he (the man) had back up of his own.

A fight ensued with Vickers’ brother suffering a blow to the head from a bottle. Vickers intervened trying to protect his younger brother. Rama, who was Vickers’ cousin-in-law, also joined the fray, trying to part the fighting men. The man who first challenged Vickers’ brother over the woman, drew a gun from his waist. As Vickers ran off, the gunman pursued him and shot him once in the head. Rama who was following behind, was shot multiple times. The off-duty policeman who saw what was happening, gave chase and drew his licensed, personal firearm which he fired at the fleeing gunman.

The gunman turned and fired, hitting the policeman in the leg.

He then ran off into the night.

While Vickers and Rama died at the scene, the policeman was rushed to hospital. At the Forensic Science Centre in St James, relatives described Vickers as a humble, hard working man, who loved music from a very young age.

“He was deejaying for a long while but it was only recently he began to get some kind of recognition for what he was doing,” said Victor Turpin, the dead man’s father. “This really mash me up. He doesn’t be in no problems. All he does is go to work and practice mixing music.

He was a peacemaker and he was trying to protect his little brother...and he died for it.” Rama’s common law wife, Crystal Ali, told Newsday that she has to comfort their nine-year-old son, who still cannot believe his father is dead.

“When we got the call at home, everyone including his son came to the scene,” said Ali.

“He (her son) was only asking, ‘why they killed my daddy?’ He was just trying to help his family.

He was trying to pull (Vickers) out of the fight and ended up getting killed. My husband was standing with me and he saw my cousin (Vickers) wrangling with the other man and when he went in to part the fight, all I saw was a flash and I heard gunshots. He (Rama) was a quiet person. Nobody could have said he did anything to them. All he really liked to do was go out, drink, have a good time and talk about it the next day,” Ali said.