Two killed in less than 12 hours

Edinilson Soriano

Two persons were murdered in a span of less than twelve hours on Monday. Around eight in the morning, Garry Bowen was killed on Partridge Street and just after seven p.m., Edinilson Soriano was shot and killed in close proximity on Banak Street. The gunman blasted Soriano on the upper part of his body at least four times.  Four persons have been detained and while there is no established motive for his murder, there is speculation that Soriano may not have been the intended victim. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Mereyda Soriano, Sister of Murder Victim

“He had the shot here and on his heart—they shoot him on his heart and on the middle of his face. We don’t know why that happened.”

Duane Moody, Reporting

Why would anyone want to kill seventeen year old Edinilson Soriano? That’s the question lingering in the minds of his family after he was shot four times to the upper body, including once between the eyes. Around seven p.m., Edinilson left his house at number twenty-seven Banak Street and was exiting the alley when two men rode up on separate bicycles and one of them opened fire on him.

Mereyda Soriano

Mereyda Soriano

“He was just going out to go and buy maybe some snacks or something and we don’t know why the shooting occurred.”

Kemny Soriano was at work when her babysitter told her that her brother had been killed. She ran to Banak Street to find a crow gathering around the motionless body of her brother.

Kemny Soriano

Kemny Soriano, Sister of Murder Victim

“I was working actually and the person that babysits for me, she came and I thought something happened to my child. And she told me about my brother that got shot on his head. I came running and I see the body there. I didn’t go close because the police said not to. I see a lot of people so I don’t have an explanation why this happened. I was really mad because I know that we lived in a bad area.”

Mereyda Soriano

“I was not here at that time. I was at my house. My sister called me that the neighbor went to her work and they said that they shot my brother. I couldn’t believe it. So I went to the hospital and then I saw my brother. The police car went there with her and he was in the car, but the police didn’t make me see him. But he was already dead.”

It was the second murder in eleven hours and in close proximity to each other. But was it gang-related since the Sorianos live in a crime hot spot? The family claims Edinilson was not a troublemaker his sister says that they now want justice.

Mereyda Soriano

“He was not going on the street too much having bad friends. He had friends but he wasn’t doing things like killing and those things.”

Kemny Soriano

“I feel sad because even though we sometimes quarrel, he dah my bredda from my mom and dad. He wasn’t a gang member. I know that he got friends and like a usual young boy, but he friendly to all people who know him. So I don’t have an explanation why this happened.”

The tragic incident has the family making plans to relocate to a safer area in the City.

Kemny Soriano

“I told my mom to move a long time, but because of the surgeries that my brother got, so we couldn’t leave and so we stayed actually and now this happened.”

Duane Moody

“Are you guys planning to relocate now; to move away from this area?”

Kemny Soriano

“Yes when I came last night, I told the landowner. I told him that we cannot be living here because this happened and we will try and see where we will move—a better place because right now it get so dangerous and we can’t stay here. We have kids and we think first about our kids.”

A post mortem examination is set for Thursday. Duane Moody for News Five.

Soriano’s family says they are preparing to bury him on Saturday.