On Monday during a police press conference, Deputy Commander of Eastern Division Senior Superintendent Chester Williams, told the media that Freddy Harris, a prisoner on remand at the central prison in Hattieville was shot in the buttocks after he escaped from prison guards and later died from that injury. Today the results of a post mortem tell a very different story. Not only was the victim shot three times but it was a bullet to the neck that killed Freddy Harris also known as Freddy Usher. Today 7NEWS Jacqueline Godwin caught up with the victim’s grandmother Aurora Usher. The 65-year-old grandmother was anxiously waiting outside of the city’s morgue to get word on what killed her grandson. According to Usher, last July Freddy Harris was arrested and charged for dangerous harm after he stabbed another man and had been on remand. Usher says she is disturbed about how he got shot but that it was not justified.
Jacqueline Godwin,
Do you know he was serving time for something that you did but did you expect that it would end this way?
Aurora Usher, Grandmother of Deceased
“That’s right, I never expected that he would be killed in there. We want answers. That is what we are trying to get. I wasn’t there, we have no witnesses. We only hear what the police say.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
And that is what, ‘he got shot.’
Aurora Usher,
“That’s it: ‘got shot.’ So I went to identify him in there and that is the same grandson that I had.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What are his injuries, where was he shot, how many times was he shot?
Aurora Usher,
“I think about three times. One was behind his neck and two in his buttocks. That is where the bullets went.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
A lot of questions may be going through your mind as to what might have happened. The mother doesn’t live in Belize right, she lives in the States?
Aurora Usher,
“She lives in the States.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
And I guess she is deeply concerned about what happened?
Aurora Usher,
“Yes she is. She wants information but I don’t know anything as yet because we haven’t gotten the police report as yet. The only thing we know that the police told us is that he got shot. He was at Hattieville and he got shot. That is all we know.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
When was the family informed that he was shot?
Aurora Usher,
“Yesterday evening and I went to the police station to find out it was true and they told me it is true.”
Sgt. Hilberto Romero, Deputy Commander – CIB
“The information we gathered is that he was attempting to escape and when he was told to stop he refused, he refused to comply with the directives from the guards and as a result he was shot. This is an open investigation. The post mortem was conducted today and the doctor will submit his findings and when that is done then the file is sent to the DPP for his directives.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
On whether or not, how you all should handle this case or how it should be investigated?
Sgt. Hilberto Romero,
“Yes that is the reason why the file will go to the DPP and he will look at the statements and then determine what action should be taken from there.”
Aurora Usher contends that even if it was true that Freddie Harris was trying to escape she does not know why they had to shoot him two times in the neck to get him to stop. According to the post mortem, Harris suffocated on his own blood due to the bullet to the neck. Today’s Amandala reports that Harris was receiving psychiatric care.
