The heartbroken mother of hotel worker Deron Bethel cried out for justice last night after it was revealed that three bullets were fired into her son when police approached his car.
Until now, police had claimed only one shot was fired when father-to-be Deron, 20, died outside his Pinewood Gardens home last week.
Now his family has received an autopsy report showing that three shots were fired – one directly into the heart, a second into his chest and a third into his throat.
The bullet in his throat also entered his brain, killing him instantly. “Every one of those shots would have been fatal,” a family friend said last night.
As the news became known, Deron’s mother Diana, 52, said the family and their friends would not rest until those responsible were brought before the courts.
She said police would have to give a full account of what happened.
“I am very disturbed by what has been revealed. I am not satisfied at all and we want answers, we want justice.
“We need justice and everyone around here is asking for justice. The police came round here in an unmarked car wearing plain clothes and showing no ID.”
Ms Bethel revealed that Deron and his 21-year-old girl friend Shakira Coakley, who is five and a half months pregnant with his child, were planning to marry later this year.
“Shakira has taken it very badly,” she said, “she had to be taken to hospital to get a shot to calm her down. She is very worried about the pregnancy.” Ms Bethel said that now that her son has been killed, “the child will have to grow up without his daddy.”
Ms Bethel said Pinewood MP Allyson Maynard-Gibson had called round several times to see her and the family, and Chief Supt Hulan Hanna had visited on behalf of the police. But what she needed most was a satisfactory explanation of why her child-loving son was deprived of his chance of fatherhood by a pointless killing.
“He loved children so much,” she said. “He was so looking forward to becoming a father. He told me he was going to buy his baby the best of everything.
“Shakira has also been looking forward to becoming a mother. They were planning to marry this November, but now all that has gone.
“Now I am still waiting for my boy to come through that door. I sit on my bed expecting him to come home. My son had just left my bedroom when he got shot. Now I’ll never see him again.”
On Saturday, Pinewood residents are expected to turn Deron’s funeral at Bible Baptist Church into a placard demonstration calling for action. Ms Bethel said: “I hope they make their point.
I don’t think any of us has confidence in the police anymore. My son did not have any criminal record. Everyone is grieving for him.”
Ms Bethel now has three surviving children. One of them, Dwayne Bethel, is a policeman. Deron’s father, Roger Bain, is a sergeant on the force.
“They are both taking it very badly,” said Ms Bethel. “If Deron was sick and died, we would not feel it so bad. But he was not sick. He was a healthy young man. We just can’t believe it.”
The killing happened when police swooped on Pinewood following a call to a domestic incident involving another family.
It is claimed that Deron happened to be sitting outside his home in his car at the time. The original report said one shot was fired through his window. The autopsy report tells a different story.
Source: οΎ The Tribune
