Mom of 7 seeks justice over son’s killing

UPDATE:

THE Chaguanas mother of seven whose teenage son was shot and killed by Central Division police last Tuesday is demanding a full-scale probe into her son’s death and is accusing the police of snuffing out her son’s life although he was unarmed.

Police, however, insist that Azizi Mawusi, 19, of Petersfield, Chaguanas was killed in an exchange of gunfire at Pierre Road, Felicity.

In a telephone interview, Mawusi’s mother Sharon Johnson insisted the police fabricated information that her son was armed with a pistol and shot at them.

“I have eyewitnesses’ accounts of the entire incident. I know what happened to my son. He was killed in cold blood. All he had on him was a piece of weed, nothing more – and they killed my son. It is very painful.

“Right now I not thinking right, but after I bury my son I will do what I have to do to ensure that justice prevails”.

Johnson said last Tuesday a group of men asked Azizi, a part-time construction worker and pumpkin vendor at the Chaguanas market, to help build a house at Pierre Road, Felicity.

He said he and eight others were at work on it when a group of police surrounded the area, and from eyewitness accounts, her son started to run because he had marijuana on him.
He was shot twice in the chest and once in the back.

“I was told that my son was shot three times and he had no gun on him.
“Why did the police kill my son? If they had shot him in the foot or hand I would not have been so angry, but they took away my child, and I want Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to meet with me so that he could initiate an independent investigation into my child’s death.”

Johnson’s voice choked with emotion as she said, “I am now preparing to bury my son. This is hard, very hard. I know my son, he was not a criminal and did not deserve to die this way.
“I wanted him to be home with me for the Christmas.

“He was such a helpful child. He never had any previous convictions, all he liked was a little weed to cool his head, and I do not think he should have been killed like this.”

Yesterday senior Central Division officers said all the police involved on Tuesday have been interviewed and they gave a different version from Johnson’s. They said three guns were seized at the scene of the death.

One man escaped and five others were held, charged and granted bail.

The matter is being investigated by a senior Central Division officer.

ORIGINAL STORY:

THE Chaguanas mother of seven, whose teen son was shot dead by Central Division police last Tuesday, is demanding a full scale probe as she accused police of killing him although he was unarmed.

Police however are insisting that Azizi Mawusi of Petersfield, Chaguanas, was killed in an exchange of gunfire at Pierre Road in Felicity.

Mawusi’s mother Sharon Johnson told Newsday that the police fabricated the shootout claim and the wants investigations to go deeper into the case so that justice can be served.

“I have eyewitness' account of the entire incident. I know what happened to my son, he was killed in cold blood. All he had on him was a piece of weed, nothing more and they killed him. It is very painful. Right now I not thinking right, but after I bury my son I will do what I have to do to ensure that justice prevails," Johnson said.