Parents of latest shooting victim mourn sudden loss

The parents of Darrien Anderson Robinson, the 27-year-old who was fatally shot early Wednesday morning, say they are feeling “empty inside” as they struggle to come to grips with the circumstances that led to their last born’s demise.

Lyle Anderson and his wife, Brenda Robinson, said they were thrown into a state of shock and morning when someone knocked on their front door after midnight to inform them that Darrien, the father of seven-month-old and five-year-old daughters, was gunned down at a promotion fete at Thunder Bay, Lower Carlton, St James.

Darrien, the younger brother of popular local entertainer Damien Hypasounds Etienne, was shot just a short distance from the 1st Avenue, Lower Carlton, St James home which he shared with his parents.

His father told Barbados TODAY that while his heart ached as he mourned the loss of the last of his five children, it was equally painful that his granddaughters Royalty, who turned seven months old on Tuesday, and Daleisha were now fatherless.

With tears in her eyes, Brenda, who whispered that she now understands how a mother feels to lose her child tragically, said she now has to find the simplest way to explain to Daleisha that her father is no longer here to take her to the beach and for ice-cream, a Sunday tradition the child looked forward to every week.

According to a statement from the Barbados Police Service, around 1:20 a.m., lawmen received a report of gunshots being fired. When police arrived at the scene, they were informed that two men were injured but had left the scene.

On further investigations, it was discovered that Darrien was transported to a private medical institution by private motor car, and he subsequently passed away.

Roshay Anthony Jermaine Anthony Cadogan, 20, of Waterford, St Michael, who sustained an injury to his upper left arm during the incident, was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) by private motorcar for medical treatment.

Sitting in a chair in his gallery, a grieving Lyle said that he last saw and spoke to Darrien on Tuesday night before he headed to bed.

The father said he felt like it was soon after that that he was running out of the house and down the gap to where the promotion fete was held, to see a vehicle driving away to take his son for emergency medical attention.

He recalled that another driver immediately offered to take him to the Sandy Crest Medical Centre where doctors’ efforts to save his son’s life were unsuccessful.

“The doctor said he got multiple shots. The doctor said he is a strong man because the shot he got up here [in his chest]…. He should have been dead on the spot.

“My son was there lying down on the bed like somebody was lying down sleeping. You couldn’t believe he got all of them shots; he got about ten shots,” Lyle said.

The 72-year-old father made it clear that, as far as he was aware, his son was not involved in any conflict that would have led to him dying the way he did.

“They said when the promotion done, he and nobody ain’t had no beef; they just come and start shooting. If my son was a bad man, he live by the gun, he dead by the gun, so be it; I wouldn’t mind that. But anybody would tell you through this gap that my son was not a bad man,” he said.

Lyle described his son as a nice, loving, quiet young man who was quick to lend a helping hand to those in need.

He said Darrien, who attended St Alban’s Primary and Coleridge and Parry School, had been in the process of preparing a minibus for inspection to get it back on the road.

“And now somebody got to inspect him,” Lyle said.

“But what can you do? It doesn’t make any sense to break down and cry. I have to keep strong for my wife. She is trying to cope, but she isn’t as strong as me, so I am trying to stay strong to keep her strong”.

As Brenda watched Daleisha place her tiny feet in her father’s shoes, she said she would definitely miss Darrien’s affection.

She said even though Darrien was an adult, he took pride in playfully patting her cheeks and hugging and kissing his dad.

He was also the person “to do all the running around” for the household.

“Sometimes, I would sit down watching African movies until he came home. And he don’t really go out that regularly in that sort of way. Last night when he left, he came and pulled my neck and passed and went long….

“This is hard. I would hear people talk about how they feel when these things happen to them, but now I know how they feel,” Brenda said as he watched her granddaughter still trying to walk around the gallery in her father’s shoes.

Police have asked anyone with information that can assist in their investigations to call the Criminal Investigation Department of the Northern Division at 419-1730 or 419-1737, Police Emergency 211, Crime Stoppers at 1800-TIPS (8477), or the nearest police station.

They have assured that all information received will be strictly confidential.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb