Mother urges action on violent crime after son gunned down

osetta King looked on in horror as her son, Ricardo Rohan Gill, 38, took his last breath on the doorstep of their Pine home on Tuesday, in the island’s 41st murder of the year.

 

A police report confirmed that Gill’s body was discovered with what appeared to be a gunshot wound outside his Newton Crescent home. Police responded to a call about the incident at around 1:45 a.m.

 

King described the horrifying moment she saw her son’s lifeless body.

 

“I see my son two feet in the air, and when I get close to he, his two feet were fluttering. When I look, I see his face full of blood. So I step back inside and holler out, ‘They kill muh son on my front doorstep. Oh God, they kill my child’. We call the ambulance, we call the police; that was it. My son gone,” she said, visibly distraught.

 

“My whole body, numb, numb, numb.”

 

Struggling to comprehend why her son was killed in such a brutal manner, King acknowledged that while Gill had previous brushes with the law, he was not a violent person.

 

She said: “My son was Robin Hood, he would rob from the rich, cause he rob arcades, and he give to the poor but he ain’t no phone snatcher, no bag snatcher, he ain’t nobody to interfere with nobody. My son was a loving child.”

 

Just last week, her son, who she described as kind-hearted and helpful, had assisted an elderly woman, the mum said.

 

“An old lady fall down there at that corner last week Friday and with his dead foot, he run out and take up that old lady and carry she home and went the Saturday and check on she and then went back and check on she yesterday evening. Everybody around here he would help, he is that type of person… not a bad interfering person.”

 

Gill, who was skilled in masonry, carpentry, and painting, had been taking steps to turn his life around, King said. He had secured employment and was due to work that morning.

 

King, who said her son’s death has left an irreplaceable void in the family, described him as a loving child, the only boy among four girls, who shared a close bond with his mother, sisters, aunts, and nieces.

 

She added that Gill was particularly proud of his teenage son, who has been inconsolable since receiving the news. She plans to ensure he receives counselling to help cope with the tragedy.

 

Amid her grief, King expressed anger over the growing violence in the country and urged authorities to reinstate the death penalty as a deterrent to violent crime.

 

“I would like them to hang the people that doing this type of ignorance because the young people feel that they can get up and kill people and go up in prison and eat and come back out and feel good. Hang who is to hang, hang the guilty. Scare these young people, put fear in them,” she said.

 

Gill’s murder has doubled last year’s figure of 21 homicides. Police are appealing to anyone with information about the incident to contact the Criminal Investigations Department (District ‘A’) at 430-7242 or 430-7246, Police Emergency at 211, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIPS (8477), or any police station.