Nassau Village Murder By Candia Dames A day after a family was terrorized in Yellow Elder Gardens, police were called to another New Providence community – this time to the scene of what they indicated was a brutal murder.
Funeral home officials take away the body of 33-year-old Adrian Roker after he was stabbed to death in Nassau Village last night. (Photo by Stephen Gay) |
A large crowd gathered at the scene last night, including wailing family members who had just received the news of Mr. Roker’s death.
Police Inspector Walter Evans told reporters that the man was found lying on his back in the portion of Nassau Village that is called the Haitian village. It is where Mr. Roker lived.
According to Mr. Evans, Mr. Roker, who became the 13th homicide in the country for 2006, had a stab wound to the right upper chest.
"At this point, we do not know what the motive is for this incident, however, an intensive investigation has begun into this latest homicide," the police inspector said, adding that there was no suspect in custody.
Mr. Evans said police had not retrieved a weapon either and weren’t sure what Mr. Roker was stabbed with.
"As the investigation progresses, we would be able to determine the type of weapon that was used," he said.
As she was held up by family members, Mr. Roker’s mother, Trudy Emmanuel, said the killing sends a clear message to young men in Nassau Village "that they need to turn now and seek Jehovah".
"All I know is a boy came and told me that he got stabbed and that’s it," she said as she grieved for her son, the eldest of six children. "I called the ambulance."
Asked how difficult it was to deal with her son’s killing, Ms. Emmanuel said it’s a feeling one cannot know unless one has experienced it.
"Sometimes you hear things like this and you say you understand how people feel, but when you go through it, your heart is all cramped up and you’re weak," she told reporters. "You have to deal with [it]."
Ms. Emmanuel said her son was a person who "liked to know everybody".
"This is a wakeup call for us all," she added, "No one knows where death is."
Ms. Emmanuel said she had just hung up the telephone talking to her sister when she got the news. She said she had told her sister that it was important to seek Jehovah because no one knew when his or her time on earth could come to an abrupt end.
"By the time I hung up the phone the boy [came] and told me my son got stabbed and he believe he’s dead," she said.
Mr. Evans said Mr. Roker was dressed in a white shirt, beige trousers and was wearing shoes. The screams of relatives grew loud as funeral home officials pulled the body from where he had collapsed on the ground.
It came one day after police urged members of the public to resolve conflicts peacefully and not resort to violence.
But police said they did not know the motive for the stabbing in Nassau Village, a community that grabbed national headlines early last year after a violent uprising left several people injured and some residents in a nasty clash with police.
Police also reported yesterday that Jacqueline Burrows, the 57-year-old cancer patient shot in the face in Yellow Elder Gardens on her birthday on Wednesday, was in stable condition in hospital.
They said the man responsible for the shooting could be charged as early as today if not early next week.