Tonight police say they have the two men who shot and killed car salesman Michael "Big Mike" Burns on Friday night. This afternoon 17-year-old Kareem Gladden and 18-year-old Keith Lewis were formally charged with murder and both are tonight locked down in the remand section of the Hattieville Prison. The young men are accused of shooting "Big Mike" in his face in front of wife and young son around 8 on Friday night at his store on Freetown road. So why did they do it? Commander of the Criminal Investigations Branch at Eastern Division, Assistant Superintendent Chester Williams, says the motive was robbery.
ASP Chester Williams, C.I.B. Commander
"Obviously from the inception of the investigation, and the motive will be the same, the motive was robbery. In would like to take the opportunity to thank the community who assisted in the investigation. Again our would not have been possible without the input of the community and I must be grateful for that."
Keith Swift,
What led you to these guys?
ASP Chester Williams,
"As I mentioned earlier I must thank the community for their efforts and their support in the investigation. They are the ones who gave us the tips and we acted upon them and basically it helps. At the end of the day we solved the investigation."
Keith Swift,
Have you guys found out yet or ascertained how much money was stolen?
ASP Chester Williams,
"That is something that cannot be determined and why I say that is because no one knows how much money Mr. Burns had on him at the time. We know that some money was recovered on his person, at the crime scene, by the police. So to say basically how much money was stolen, we cannot say that."
Keith Swift,
Why did these guys target Mr. Burns? Was this random or did they scope him out?
ASP Chester Williams,
"Well obviously they may have been persons who were looking for crimes of opportunity. They saw Mr. Burns there and probably took the opportunity to rob him."
Keith Swift,
This was a particularly brutal crime, he was killed in front of his wife and young son. Anything about these individuals explain why they would do something this reckless?
ASP Chester Williams,
"I will not go into more details in regards to the investigation at this time."
Again, both Gladden and Lewis were remanded to the Hattieville Prison. As he noted in the interview, Williams attributes success in solving the case to assistance from the public. He is now appealing for similar cooperation in solving the Saturday morning murder of 57 year old Delhart "Chick" Castro on Hicatee Street. As we reported, Delhart was heading from Hicatee Street to West Collet Canal when a gunman shot him. Anyone with information can contact the police or call crime stoppers at 0-800-922-tips. There is a cash reward for information leading to a successful arrest.
