Gunman sprays crowded yard, injuring couple

The gunman who shot and killed a 10-month-old baby boy did not care who was around when he fired multiple gunshots into a crowded yard, hitting the baby and its parents.

That is the opinion of the child’s uncle Caslon “Al” Bruce, who spoke to SEARCHLIGHT on Mon­day evening from his Glen home.

At around 6.45 p.m. on Friday, October 7 at Glen, technician Mozart Lee, 37, was installing a speaker in a vehicle belonging to Mon­ty Hillocks of Belmont, when a gunman opened fire, striking Mozart in the upper chest just below his neck.{{more}}

After Mozart was hit, Hillocks fled the scene, and although he was chased by the gunman, he escaped unhurt. A parked vehicle was struck by a bullet during the chase.

During the chaos, Mozart’s girlfriend, Shelly-Ann Durham, 27, was holding 10-month-old Mozari Lee. She was shot in both arms, while Mozari was also hit and later died.

Another man, Rodney Humphrey, was also injured during the incident, when he fell and bruised his palm.

“I don’t think it could have been avoided, because the guy who did the crime seems like he didn’t even care who was around. That is the hurtful part,” said Bruce, who is despondent about what happened to his nephew, brother and his brother’s girlfriend.

Bruce said that he is glad that his brother and his girlfriend are alive, but can’t come to grips with what happened to little Mozari.

“The thing is, we weren’t involved in this thing. He was just doing his job (installing a speaker). He works from home. We are not connected in any way. Whatever drama he had [with Hillocks], he came in the yard and it followed him here and the by-product was the violence,” said Bruce, who said that he had mixed feelings about the incident.

“It could have happened to anybody, because if he was at someone else’s place, the same could have happened to them,” stressed Bruce, who was at a nearby bakery when he heard the shots and went home and met pure bedlam.

He said that the gunman came from the back of the house, walked through an outside corridor and shot at the men. He said that he is uncertain how many men were there and how many guns were involved, but his brother told him that he saw one gunman. Persons report seeing more than one perpetrator.

Bruce said that he was told that the shooter did not have on a mask, but his face was obscured by a cap.

What is also confusing to Bruce is why Shelly-Ann and Mozari were shot, as they were not in the way of the shooter. He said that Shelly-Ann was sitting on the porch holding the baby in her arms. A neighbour opined that she was probably shot because she screamed and alerted the shooter to her presence on the porch.

“He was chasing Monty and shooting and I not sure why he shot the girl. People in the community are in shock,” said Bruce, who revealed that a few persons are saying that Mozart was involved in something, but that is far from the truth.

“He is not involved with anybody and anybody could come get work done on their vehicle. We don’t do background checks on people, so anybody could come here.

“It’s messed up. My son does normally be there helping, but he was with his mother,” said Bruce.

He revealed that after the shooting, he went to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) and when he came home, Hillocks’ car was still in the yard and it remained there with the keys in the ignition for the entire night.

Bruce said that when he woke up, the vehicle was gone and he had no idea who took it, but was of the opinion that the police should have secured the crime scene better than they did.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited Mozart at the MCMH on Monday, he declined an interview. He said that he was not in the mood to talk and noted that he was upset that one media house had reported that he had died. Shelly-Ann said that she would give an interview on another day, as she was, as expected, not in the frame of mind to talk.

Mozari’s death brings the number of murders in St Vincent and the Grenadines to 22 for this year. Up to press time, no one had been charged in connection with the shootings, but two men are said to be assisting the police with their investigations. (LC)