Double Murder Rocks Northside; Mother Heartbroken By Only Child’s Death

Tyler Savery

As many as four Belizeans died violently in a sweeping crime wave while four others were shot and injured over the weekend. Belize City was hardest hit by a double murder in which the life of a young boy was snuffed in a drive-by shooting on Daly Street. The seven-year-old school boy, Tyler Savery, died instantly on Friday evening as he and his cousin, Porshan Pipersburgh, were heading to a coffee shop for a treat. The twenty-one-year relative expired twenty-four hours later at the K.H.M.H.  Tyler was an only son and his father was also murdered two years ago. His mother and his peers at school are in deep pain over Tyler’s homicide.  News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Student #1

“Why you have to die. Tyler you are so young. I love you Tyler Savery.”

Student #2

“Tyler you were a good friend to everyone, but now you are in heaven with God. In a new place and you are in heaven also. Help god and us and everyone…you the best friend in the world; you’re the best friend anyone could have.”

Analeigh Johnson

Analeigh Johnson, Vice Principal, St. Joseph School

“We let them know that one of our students Tyler has passed away but he is in our thoughts forever more. We went to the individual classrooms and spoke with the children from that particular group and we had a councilor speak with the children. Some of them expressed how they felt, some were crying so it is just an emotional time here at Saint Joseph.”

Duane Moody, Reporting

Today, the students as well as the faculty and staff of Saint Joseph Primary School reminisced on the life of seven-year-old Tyler Savery, a former standard one student at the institution. It came as a shock to many as the unthinkable happened shortly after classes on Friday afternoon. Around four-thirty p.m., the minor who was en route to Moon Clusters to get a shake with his cousin, Porshan Pipersburgh, was murdered in a drive-by shooting. Savery was hit once to the chest; the bullet exited through his back and he died on the spot. His mother, Shakera Young, despite several calls remained in disbelief and rushed over to the hospital.

Shakera Young

Shakera Young, Mother of Tyler Savery

“Upon reaching the hospital, they told me that I can’t see my child; that the doctors are working on trying to resuscitate him. I sat and waited and maybe about five minutes after, the doctor came in and asked who is the parent for Tyler. I said me, now me going into this hospital knowing that my son got shot, I said maybe it was just something in the leg or the arm; something that my son could recover from. But when she looked at me and said ma’am, I am sorry, but we did all we could and your son didn’t make it. That feeling that shook my body. I fell to the ground because my son is my life—he was and he still is my life.”

It was the worst news that any mother could get – that her only child was murdered. Even more heart-wrenching is that two years ago, on October twenty-seventh 2014, the Tyler’s father Leon Savery died following a shooting near the Saint Mary’s Primary School.

Shakera Young

“How could that happen to my son? I finally gained the courage to go in and saw my baby on the table. My baby lip on it had a scratch or a burst, so I figure that’s from where he fell. I didn’t see the gunshot injury, I didn’t see anything. I just saw my son’s lifeless body on that cold table. I gathered myself and I went outside and all I could think about was how I was going to tell his grandfather that his only grandchild with his son that has already passed two years ago due to gun violence was killed by gun again. I sat on that floor at the hospital and I kept thinking what could be going through these animals’ minds? What? You would see a child on a bike and you would still pull that trigger. That doctor said that that bullet entered from the front, so there is no way that you could shoot me from the back and the bullet came through the back. If it was from the back maybe I would have been a bit more comforted that it was an accident or maybe they didn’t see the baby on the bike. But my baby got hit in the chest directly.”

Porshan Pipersburgh

Twenty-one-year old Porshan Pipersburgh was riding with Tyler on a bicycle on Daly Street when they came under fire. He was shot multiple times and rushed to the K.H.M.H.; but twenty-six hours later, he passed away inside the ICU. Pipersburgh was a member of the Youth Apprenticeship Program coordinated by Dianne Finnegan. She told News Five that the former SJC student was a victim of

Dianne Finnegan

Dianne Finnegan, Coordinator, Youth Apprenticeship Program

“In a matter of minutes the doctor came out spoke to his brother and I, Michael…and shared with us that they are going to have to go right into surgery and of course his brother signed off on that and said let’s get this done right away. In about an hour, hour and a half or so, Michael called me to say that he is in the ICU. I met both Porshan and Michael through their mom Audrey and instantly, when I met Porshan; he was still going to SJC. But…the issue of children growing up has much more to do than just the love of one parent…the absence of a father figure in the role plays a major role. I met him back in 2012 and as soon as he graduated from high school, I brought him into the apprenticeship program cause I felt I needed to keep him close. I wanted to be there for him; that if there is no one else he could talk to that he would find that comfort in me.”

The shooting occurred several blocks away from the Queen Street Police Station and police have since detained four persons since the incident.

Dezerie Phillips

ACP Dezerie Phillips, Regional Commander, Eastern Division North

“A white car pulled up and occupants from the car fired shots in the direction of Porshan and the little boy who was injured. So far we have impounded a car that we believe was involved in this incident and we also have three persons in custody. We are seeking two persons who we believe can assist us in this investigation. We have not been able to establish a motive and until you establish a motive, then you know exactly where it is coming from or where it came from.”

Young says that she has not been home since the incident and prays that her son’s killer finds God.

Shakera Young

“My son is not at war; he was not at war. My son didn’t even know what happened to him because of that trauma that got him. But whosoever did it, I hope that you are seeing this and I hope that you are listening to me and I want you to understand. You have a mother, you have sisters, you have cousins, you have grandmothers, you have aunts, you have nephews, you have brothers. I am not the seek revenge type because I have love in my heart. And I pray that sometime, very soon, you find God.”

Duane Moody for News Five.