A taxi driver was knifed to death on Saturday evening by one of two bandits who he attempted to intercept minutes after a young woman related she was robbed of a cell phone by the men.
Omar Harper, 32, of 881 Third Street, Cummings Lodge, was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) just after 8 pm from a single stab wound to his abdomen. One of the two bandits suspected to be involved in his murder has since been arrested by the police after he was found in a home a short distance away.
According to the man’s brother, Junior Harper, he was washing his car, HB 6512, in front of his home just around 6 pm when the woman approached him and related that she was robbed, pointing out the two persons who were at the time escaping on bicycles. He said his brother jumped into his car and sped after the men through Third Street.
When the bandits reached the end of the street where there is a small bridge they ditched their cycles and attempted to escape on foot. This did not dissuade Harper who parked his car and ran after the men. His brother related that persons in the area said there was a scuffle and the two men later ran away leaving a bleeding Harper lying on the roadway.
The injured Harper was picked up by a friend and rushed to the hospital where he died but not before he called out the name of one of the bandits. With this information his brother said residents galvanised support with the aim of finding the bandit and they held on to a known associate of the named man.
It was that person who informed that the man had sought refuge in a house one street away from where the incident happened. The brother said they went to the house where they saw the man who upon seeing them ran into the house and locked the door. He said a woman and her son, who are said to be family friends of the man, live in the house and were in the yard with the man when they approached. In the process of slamming the door to the house the man locked the occupants out of their home.
Junior Harper said they immediately made contact with the police who upon arrival were forced to kick down the door of the house as the man refused to open it.
“Dem find he standing up by a room by a wall in the dark,” the brother said.
He said the woman and her son claimed that they were unaware that the man had allegedly committed a crime.
Yesterday, relatives, who described Harper as a kind and loving person, said that he was expected to get married to the mother of his child next month. The woman was expected to fly in from the US for their wedding now she will have to fly in for her fiancée’s funeral.
“He was a good person and that is why he woulda wanted to help that woman,” a relative said of the now dead Harper.
And residents said that the area is plagued with frequent robberies, relating that the bandits are bolder in their attacks because the area has no street lights. They called for street lights to be installed in the community.
