Family friend of slain Matelot man: 'Stop being selfish – find God'

A FAMILY friend of Matelot murder victim Quacey Francois has told the nation to stop its selfish ways and to seek God, as she believes this is a main reason for the high level of crime plaguing the country.

Francois, 41, was shot dead on October 3, minutes after leaving home to go to a nearby shop.

Reports said he was watching television with his family around 6.25 pm when his son returned from the shop and gave him some money. Francois got up and left home to go to the shop himself.

Minutes later, his family heard gunshots nearby and found Francois bleeding on the ground roughly 100 metres away. He died at the scene.

Francois' wife was visibly distraught after viewing his body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James on October 7.

A family friend, however, spoke to the media on condition of anonymity.

She said Francois was a family-oriented, peaceful and loving man.

"He loved his family dearly. He lived for them, his wife and two children. He also had a lot of friends and people who loved him.

"He's somebody who would go out their way to help another person."

She said while Francois' life was taken away by rogue elements, his memory will live on.

"What some don't understand in life is, when someone instils goodness in somebody else, they may not be here physically, so the enemy may think they are not here any more, but they really are, and they tend to shine even more.

"God is not sleeping. Sometimes we feel justice may not prevail right away, but there is a God, and he is real and he is not sleeping."

The family friend said Francois' two teenage children were not coping well with their father's death.

She highlighted Francois' love for them and said he would be proud of them for their progress in life.

"His two children are excelling in the Matelot community. His son recently got an award for essay-writing and he'll be writing exams soon."

She said Francois was a jack of all trades, but identified as a fisherman.

"He did whatever he could to ensure his wife and children eats."

She summed up with two adjectives – "horrible and terrible" – and said people needed to be less selfish and to remember God.

"This isn't about religion. God is not coming for religion. He's coming for a man's heart and the relationship he has with God.

"We have the spiritual (solution) and then we have the politics part and the other things like the police who also need support."

Francois was the second person to be killed in the usually peaceful area in three weeks.

Dwayne “Bling Dog” Marshall, 34, of Cemetery Street, Matelot, was found dead at the foot of a 35-foot precipice near his house on September 19.

His mother was awoken by gunshots around 4 am but went back to sleep.

Three hours later, while she was at work, her two other sons found Marshall’s body lying near Cemetery Street.

Police found one live 5.56 round, the same calibre used to kill Francois on October 3.