A Ladyville child is without a father and his uncle has been sent to jail after a weekend murder. What happened that could have led a brother to kill his sister's baby daddy? That's what Alfonso Noble has been trying to find out. Here's his story.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Makesha Swazo says she was at her Lord's Bank home at around 2:45 on Saturday afternoon when two young men, Heston Castillo and Andre Swazo got into a fight. The argument was over Swazo's sister whom Castillo has a child with. Makesha says that after trying to reason with them, Swazo pulled out a gun and that's when she had to simply give up.
Makesha Swazo, Witness
"I was standing behind the screen door, me and my son, and after speaking to the young man, to both young men, and I saw that I wasn't getting through to them what I did was take my son by his arm and swing around. I was two steps from the door when we heard the shots went off."
Alfonso Noble,
Right behind you there is a bullet graze. How close were you to this?
Makesha Swazo,
"Like 2 steps away from the door."
Alfonso Noble,
And your children?
Makesha Swazo,
"My son was by my side and my daughter was by the window. After realizing that it was seconds after I moved from the door, I was really terrified. I was more terrified for my kids because it's the first time they really experienced something like this and they were really frightened."
But more than her children being frightened, Swazo says that she too was taken by surprise as this kind of thing is not known to happen in her community. She says young men killing one another was unheard of in Lord's Bank.
Makesha Swazo,
"Its not the norm. It's a peaceful community and they're both very good young men so its just something that I guess they were going through together."
Alfonso Noble,
And you knew them both?
Makesha Swazo,
"I knew them both personally; very well."
And because she knew them that well she is in a position to say that the entire incident could have been avoided.
Makesha Swazo,
"The way I see it is that they really need guidance, somebody to talk to them, especially if you know they have problems because these two young men they were always fighting. They had what you call a beef for some while now so probably if somebody had intervened and tried to work out this between them, it wouldn't have reached this far."
But it did happen and now a young child is left without a father and her uncle is facing some serious jail time after being charged for murder today.
A post mortem confirmed that 21 year old Heston Castillo was shot in the head behind the ear. Heston Castillo was the son of educator Enita Castillo. The accused, 19-year-old Andre Swazo was today charged with murder and has been remanded. He is the son of Major Gilbert Swazo.
