Witness to Williams’ murder denies she set him up
On Thursday night Raymond Williams was shot and killed in his white convertible while parked on one of the streets near the municipal airstrip. His companion Janet Vasquez told police she survived the ordeal by jumping into the sea. Today she told News Five about her swim to safety and denied allegations that she may be more than just an innocent victim.
Janet Vasquez
“I afraid to walk the street.”
Janet Vasquez may be scared now, but on Thursday night she thought nothing of taking a drive with an old boyfriend. She agreed to go with Raymond Williams to the area known as “The Hanger” near the Municipal Airport.
Janet Vasquez
“We were smoking in the car and we were drinking. Me and he hear a shot so I jump up and he jump up off our seat. I look so, I no see nobody on this side. By the time I do so, I done hear about the second shot and all I see was his body coming like to cover mine.”
Vasquez says she kept her head down until the firing stopped. When she saw the assailants get back into their truck she pushed Williams away and started the car. But she says she couldn’t find the reverse gear. When the truck drove towards the convertible, Janet decided to jump into the sea. From the water she says she saw the men look into the car and then slowly drive away. But her relief was short lived.
Janet Vasquez
“I was out of the water so I decide to come back in when I see them coming back again, with another vehicle beside them and they park right beside our vehicle. I see two white boys come out. They check the body, like if something in the body, in the car, I don’t know what. Then they start to walk, flash their light in the water, to see if they see me.”
Janet shed her clothes in the water and hid for a while in a patch of mangroves on the shore. When she got out of the water, she noticed she had been shot.
Janet Vasquez
“When I was in the water, I couldn’t believe I was in this water swimming. I can’t believe something like that could have happened to me. I can’t believe it.”
Vasquez has heard allegations on the street that she purposely took Raymond Williams to the secluded spot to be killed. The fact that her previous boyfriend, Emil Franklin was murdered in January has added fuel to the fire. She says she is innocent.
Janet Vasquez
“He save my life. He never had to jump on top of me. And if I set something up like that why would I jump in water swimming and running from them?
I still no know what happened to Emil. All I know is they find him dead. With Raymond now, I no know who he had a thing with.”
Vasquez says she is not satisfied with the way police have been carrying out their investigation. On Friday, she took part in an ID parade but says there was no one way mirror to protect her identity.
Janet Vasquez
“I pick two men out of it and they were right there, in front of my face, about five-six feet away from me.”
Q: “How that make you feel, seeing them?”
Janet Vasquez
“It make me feel funny because the boys watch me like, why they didn’t finish or something. He watch me and made up his face like that.”
Q: “The people that you pointed out in the lineup, those are the men you saw that night?”
Janet Vasquez
“Yes, they were the same ones.”
But Vasquez failed to convince police and it seems she is now under suspicion. The official comment from the Police Department is that she was questioned for an entire day and that police are checking out her story to determine the nature of her involvement in the incident.
Janet Vasquez
“Policemen say they could charge me. I no see how they could charge me for something like that, just because I survive it, They could want to charge me for something like that? I don’t know nothing about his death, absolutely nothing.
I am living my life. I no see nothing wrong with the way I life my life. Maybe it’s just the company I have, maybe it’s the wrong one. I was just there at the wrong time.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
Because Vasquez failed to positively identify anyone in the line up, both men previously detained were released. Police Press Officer Christy Castillo says they do not have a one way mirror for use in line-ups.
