Daxton Parks had his life threatened during an ongoing personal feud, which ended tragically on Sunday night when he was shot dead with an arrow at Karasabai.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that Parks, a former national youth footballer, and the suspect had a dispute for sometime. Meanwhile, conflicting reports have since surfaced as to where the shooting actually took place.
This newspaper had been told that the two men had a heated argument, following which Parks left. He later returned and found the suspect, who was allegedly intoxicated, behaving in a disorderly manner. Parks spoke to the man, who went to his home and returned with a bow and arrow and then fired the fatal projectile.
Reports yesterday indicated that the incident occurred near the suspect’s home and that Parks was shot in his chest and not his back, as this newspaper had reported.
The suspect and Parks’ body were transported from Karasabai, where the incident occurred, to Lethem on Monday.
Parks’ distraught wife told this newspaper yesterday that she hasn’t received any new information from the police about the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death. She said that she is unsure when the burial will take place or when the post-mortem examination will be done.
Mortuary
A source in Lethem yesterday said that the mortuary at the hospital is not functioning and this is putting a strain on grieving relatives, including those of Parks. The source explained that the mortuary stopped functioning fully last year October. It was explained that repairs would be done to the affected parts of the machinery at the facility and by the next day it breaks down again.
“There are cases where the family got to bury the dead right away because it is just too expensive to keep buying ice,” the source said, explaining that a $40 parcel of ice in the city costs about $200 in Lethem.
The source said that relatives have to purchase at least $5,000 in ice every day to ensure that the body of their loved one is preserved. The source said that currently persons are purchasing ice to preserve the remains of the well-known footballer.
Because his death is being investigated by the police, a government pathologist will have to be flown in to do a PME.
The source said it will be too expensive to fly Parks to the city for the PME and then fly him back to Lethem so that he could be buried in his home community of St. Ignatius, located about two miles away.
The source explained too that since the Region Nine community was hit by the flood last month, electricity supply has not normalised, which makes the problem of storing bodies worse.
According to the source, because of this there is a shortage of ice, which sometimes forces residents to travel across the border to Brazil to make purchases. The electricity in the community is shut off from midnight until 7am.
During the time when the community is scheduled to have electricity (between 7 am and midnight), there are at least two periods of blackout. The source noted that during the day, the sun is very hot, which makes it more essential for bodies to be stored properly.
“These bodies can spoil easily,” the source stressed.
Police had said in a press release that Parks, 28, was fatally struck around 10 pm on Sunday. The suspect was arrested shortly after and the bow and arrow believed to have been used in the incident were recovered by the police. A team of investigators, led by a senior detective has been dispatched to the area.
Parks up to the time of his death, played with the Saints football team, which he had also formed several years ago.
The team is rated at number two in the region. The father of three stopped playing professionally because of his construction work. On the day of his death, he had travelled to Karasabai, which is a four to five hour journey from his home, where he had some work lined up.
