Bizarre shooting in Ladyville: murder or suicide?

A Ladyville family is in mourning tonight following the sudden and bizarre death of their loved one on Friday night. We say bizarre because as News Five’s Marion Ali reports, tonight it is still unclear whether the young victim committed suicide in public or he was executed at close range.

Janice Middleton, Mother of Deceased
“Whateva result come owta dis, I guess wah mother wuda neva be satisfied becaz yoh lass yoh child. Dis dah my son. I jus wahn di policeman dehn straighten up pan dehn investigation we dehn di do. Many people dead miss. We have couple murders up yah weh dehn noh even solve yet, come on.”

Marion Ali, Reporting
While a post mortem examination this afternoon could not conclude whether twenty year old T.J. Middleton committed suicide or was murdered, his family are convinced that foul play was involved. According to Janice Middleton, her son was full of promise and was actively looking for a job.

Janice Middleton
“Apart frahn the Coast Guard, ih mi supposed to go tek wah interview I tink dah Princess wit di British Forces. Ih mi supposed to tek dat dis weekend ah tink; ah noh soh sure. Ih mi di try all different lee options becaz Wednesday evening me and he sidong right yah pan di step ahn he seh to mi, ih seh mommy ah need four references. Ih need two fu Princess and ih need two fu sohn ada place. But ih seh ah wah ask mi aunty fi gi mi two and ih wah share it up between Princess ahn ih ask somebody fi give ah one ahn den ih jus wah split it up, you know, gi ah two copies. Dats what he told me. He tell me dis Wednesday aftanoon sitting here.”

According to police, around eleven on Friday night, Middleton went to hang out with friends on Aracari Street in Ladyville. Two of his companions have reported that as Middleton stood on the street, he told them he wanted to play a game.

Cpl. Luis Cawich, Head of C.I.B., Ladyville
“Every person being interviewed is saying that it was Russian Roulette that the guy was playing.”

Marion Ali
“All of them or…?”

Cpl. Luis Cawich
“Well, everybody … about three to four persons who were mainly close to the deceased is saying that yes, that is what they heard and about two of them saw when he shot himself.”

Burn marks around the bullet wound on Middleton’s forehead suggests the bullet entered at very close range and possibly self inflicted. But Middleton strongly believes her son was murdered. That’s because she says she heard more than one shot fire.

Janice Middleton
“I hear the shots, well actually, two ah wi hyaa di shots; pop pop pop… pop. Well, first I mi tink dah mi frahn da direction but I guess da mussi di echo, you know. Den my husband come out he seh somebody tell ah right deh before I coulda mi get di message, somebody tell ah bwai yoh son jus shot ihself. He run but wen my husband run so my husband tun back ahn ih grab wah bicycle frahn deh. When my husband get bak deh, nobody miss; nobody under dis house bottom and dehn had at least between eight—well, dehn seh eight—I noh really know. Dehn seh dehn pick up eight young men. Eight young men was unda dah house batam but wen my husband get deh, nobody was there. Then di undastanding weh I get about dis Russian roulette game, I noh know nothing bout dis thing. Di undastanding dat I get, da only one bullet supposed to deh eena di gun. So who fyah di res ah shots?”

But Ladyville’s lead crimes investigator Corporal Luis Cawich says witness reports contradict what family members say they heard.

Cpl. Luis Cawich
“We had already combed the area, we went through our investigation and so far we only heard one. People are saying that they only heard one gunshot; not four nor three, one.”

But the story took a strange twist on Saturday afternoon because police say when they returned to the scene, they recovered four rounds of point thirty-eight ammunition. According to Cawich, Middleton’s friends say that after loading the unlicensed gun with one bullet, the young man discarded the others at the scene. But the family of the deceased have a scenario of their own.

Janice Middleton
“Yestudeh mawnin a young man came to my house and he seh miss Janice, ih seh di gun da mi fi T.J. But apparently, T.J. was threatened becaz ih tell somebody dat somebody di threaten ah.”

Investigators say they are pursuing all angles in the case and are re-interviewing witnesses to determine if any foul play was involved in Middleton’s death. Marion Ali for News Five.

Police recovered the unlicensed point thirty-eight revolver at the scene.