South is Shot Dead on La Isla Carinosa Briceño
Floyd Samuels
A construction supervisor was executed on Saturday night inside his home on Caye Caulker. It is the first murder on the island in several years and residents in the Black Neighborhood were startled at the report of gunfire in the vicinity. When the shooting subsided, Floyd Samuels was mortally wounded and his common-law wife had been grazed by bullets to various parts of the body. It is unclear what triggered the deadly attack on the couple, but police on the island have been working diligently to solve the case. Tonight, three men remain in custody as the investigation continues. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Floyd Samuels relocated to Caye Caulker, along with his family, ten years ago. He worked in construction on the northern end of the island and was well-known in the small community. On Saturday night, a pair of gunmen entered this property on Avenida Mangle and opened fire on him and Kimara Andrewin, his common-law wife. A relative spoke with us off camera and recounted what happened, following a phone call with her boyfriend.
Voice of: Relative of Deceased
“I was at home getting ready to come here and he called me and said, “Check on your cousin because dehn just, you know, shot up South.” So I ran [over] saw my cousin outside, sitting outside bawling out. [I] came in, saw the body slumping over the chair. She got, someone said to me that she got shot, so I grabbed her and took her on the cart and we rushed her to the clinic and we found out that she was only grazed.”
This afternoon, police investigators shared what they’ve gathered so far regarding the homicide.
Hilberto Romero
ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division
“Around 7:36 p.m., police responded to a shooting incident at Caye Caulker Village in the area of Mangle Avenue. Upon arrival, they found a male person motionless. The person was identified as Floyd Samuels. He was taken thereafter to the clinic where he was pronounced dead on arrival.”
South, as Samuels was popularly known, was gunned down in cold blood. What precipitated the deadly shooting is anyone’s guess. His family is stumped as to why the couple was attacked in such a cruel manner.
Voice of: Relative of Deceased
“We can’t seh dat. We noh really know nothing right now, yoh know, like she still eena shock. My cousin, she still eena shock so she can’t seh. We can’t seh. He da wahn hard working man. He da fi fi he family. He deh out ya fi like ova ten years, out yeah. Everybody know South, dehn know he. He da fi fi he woman and fi he grandson weh ih raise as ih own. Soh we can’t seh, we really can’t seh.”
Isani Cayetano
“The attack on South was calculated. Someone came all the way here, got inside and killed him.”
Voice of: Relative
“Yes, got inside. He wasn’t inside, he was right at the door and just shot, start fire shot.”
Isani Cayetano
“What did he do for a living?”
Voice of: Relative
“Well he was a supervisor at a construction site over on the north side”
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero, three suspects have been detained pending the outcome of the investigation.
Hilberto Romero
“We have three persons in custody in regards to this murder. Kimara Andrewin received a minor graze and she was treated and released from the clinic.”
Reporter
“Did these men know the victim, because it seemed that they came to his house and called out his name.”
Hilberto Romero
“That is the information we gathered at the scene that, yes, they knew the person.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
