An accountant at Rubis Guyana was shot dead on Wednesday night by bandits during a robbery at his house.
According to a police press release, Jason Cort, 27, of Meadow Brook Gardens, was shot to his chest. Investigations revealed that Cort had just returned home when he was attacked. His licensed firearm, a sum of cash, and a cellular phone were stolen.
Cort’s fiancée, Shauna Garraway, the only other person who was present at the time of the murder, said they had arrived at the home around 10.30 pm after a dinner. The grieving woman said they had only gone there to drop something off for his aunt who usually stays at the house and were to head right back out to catch an 11 pm movie. “I went upstairs to grab a jacket and when I was coming down back I heard a gunshot and he [Cort] said ‘Ow!’ and a male voice said ‘gimme the money,’” the saddened Garraway recalled, explaining that after she heard the gunshot she retreated back up the stairs and hid under the bed. She said she tried calling the police, to no avail, and called others including family members until she got on to her mother and Cort’s friend.
“Eventually my mother looked after getting the police, but one of his friends got here first and shined his car light at the driveway and when he came inside he called out to me and to tell me it’s safe to come downstairs,” she said. She added that they found Cort lying in the storeroom opposite the kitchen.
Garraway told this newspaper that they noticed a man earlier in the day circling the area on a bike. They had tried to follow the man in their vehicle but lost his trail.
Garraway, family members and friends were left flabbergasted at Cort’s murder. They related to this newspaper instances of his kindness and generosity.
“It’s unbelievable. I know Jason for such a long time and he would never retaliate. When it comes to possessions he would’ve let the man tek it all,” one of his friends said.
Garraway’s mother, Sabrina Quallis, blasted the police’s handling of the situation. “I got a call from my daughter and she whispered ‘call the police’ and right away I tried calling 911,” Quallis said. “When I finally got through and told the police that my daughter called me whispering to call the police they [the police] told me that they need to call her and make sure it’s a robbery,” Quallis further said.
Garraway explained that the police had called her on her cellular phone while she was under the bed but she wasn’t in any position to speak and explain the details as she was hearing the footsteps of whoever had attacked her fiancé, walking around the house. This went on for about ten minutes, she said.
The perpetrator got away with a gold chain and a bracelet worth $500,000, Cort’s licensed firearm, an XBOX console and his Samsung Galaxy phone.
Cort leaves to mourn his fiancée, his two-year-old son, family members and friends.
Investigations are ongoing and the police are currently checking CCTV footage from the surrounding area.
