Moments after two men approached her Robb Street home asking for “auntie”, a 72-year-old woman last evening had six bullets pumped into her by one of the men.
Dead is Clementine Parris, popularly known as `Sister Clemmy’. She lived on Robb Street, two doors from Light Street.
A relative told Stabroek News that about 7:45 pm, he was sitting on the stairs when two young men came off the street and asked where “auntie” was. The relative, reportedly called for the woman, and as she emerged from her bedroom, one of the men took out the gun from his waist and fired several shots at the woman. The woman was reportedly hit three times in her stomach, once in her back and in two other areas. After shooting the woman the men ran and escaped in a waiting car. One of the men had on a cap, the relative said.
“Is nah no robbery. They come direct for she. They ain go in the house,” he said. The family member said that the incident happened very quickly and as the woman emerged from the bedroom the unarmed man chucked him out of the way. “This thing happen quick, I tell you, quick,” the family member said. The relative explained that people would usually visit Parris and very often her friends would send their sons to collect items from her. Another family friend, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, told this newspaper that all he heard were gunshots and the sound of the woman hitting the floor. The woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Relatives on the scene pointed to an ongoing property dispute and noted that the woman had been threatened repeatedly. Other relatives were also threatened, this newspaper was told. About two to three years back, the woman was badly beaten by a man at the same house but fought back valiantly. Although badly injured the woman survived but no one was ever charged in the matter.
Since this attack, relatives said that they encouraged her to relocate but she refused. “She wanted her independence, she said she was more comfortable by herself. That was how she was, a strong woman,”
one relative recounted. Stabroek News understands that recently the woman received a favourable ruling in relation to the disputed property and was expected to receive documents next week.
Parris was a committed Christian and attended a popular church in the city. As news of her death spread, relatives and church members gathered at the house to show support. The woman would cook at church functions and would do other domestic work, relatives told this newspaper. “She was very pleasant, very encouraging but she would never back down when she knew she was right,” another relative said.
Parris originally hailed from the Essequibo Coast before moving to Linden. She eventually settled in the city. She was a widow and is the mother of two surviving children, both of whom reside overseas.
