Man, arrested by police, dies in custody from gunshot wound suffered during brawl at Stabroek market

Dec 06, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News- While police remain silent on the death of a Warau suspect in their custody, a post mortem examination has revealed that he died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The suspect, Luis La Cruz, 28, a father of three, reportedly died on November 29, seven days after he was arrested by police. He is being buried today by his loved ones. As family members prepare to say their final goodbyes, they demand justice.

Firstly, they claim he is innocent of the crime, which he was accused of and secondly, they are angry that he was removed from the hospital with a gunshot wound to his abdomen and placed in the police lock-ups.

His sister, Julie La Cruz claimed that he begged police officers for help and complained of feeling unwell but police ranks ignored him.

“He was asking for help and they laughed at him and even hit him in the head. We want justice for the death of my brother (translated from Spanish)”, La Cruz told Kaieteur News on Thursday.

Kaieteur News understands that the language barrier might have played a part in police ignoring his complaints.

La Cruz of Montrose, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was identified as one of six Venezuelans accused of attempting to murder a policeman around 23:45hrs on Saturday November 23, 2024. Four have been remanded, one remains hospitalized and La Cruz died.

Reports are that Constable Nathaniel Giddings dressed in plain clothes, was on duty with three other police officers when they witnessed a fight between two females (both suspects in the attempted murder) at Stabroek Market, near Demico.

In an effort to deescalate the situation, Giddings intervened. However, one of the accused allegedly turned on him with broken bottles and a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds to his body and neck. The two male suspects then allegedly joined the attack. It was chaos, eyewitnesses reported.

Police managed to take control of the situation and Giddings was subsequently taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he is admitted as a patient.

During the attack, two of the suspects were also injured and had to be taken to the hospital.

Initial reports were that the suspects had inflicted stab wounds on each other during the chaotic attack on the policeman.

Since then, police have said nothing else. Reports later surfaced that four Venezuelans were jointly charged with attempted murder.

The defendants were identified as, 21-year-old Victoria La Cruz, 37-year-old Libeth Valasquez, (the two females) and 26-year-old Jesus Herrera, and 19-year-old Gabriel Campose, all of Montrose, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Days later, Kaieteur News received information that one of the suspects had died in police custody.

His sister, Julie La Cruz later confirmed his death with the newspaper.

At first, relatives did not know how he died and were speculating that the blows he allegedly received from police while asking them for help might have killed him.

Following his death, police summoned his mother (an elderly Indigenous Warau woman) and advised her to sign a document that she reportedly could not read.

Nevertheless, she signed it with her thumb print and, according to her, police give them no further explanation but a copy of a document.

Kaieteur News was shown the document and it was only then that she understood that it was just part of a legal procedure to identify La Cruz’s body.

A post mortem was later done and it revealed that a bullet had caused his death.  He had been shot and the bullet destroyed his intestines causing septic shock.

Relatives are now questioning why did police not leave him in the hospital to be treated?

Kaieteur News had reached to the Corporation Communications Department (CCU), for clarification on the man’s death, but to date, it is yet to respond. Other reporters had reached out too but CCU said that no such report has reached its department.

Apart from questioning the circumstances surrounding La Cruz’s death, relatives are now claiming he did not attack the policeman but is a victim of the chaos caused by the fight at Demico.

“My brother is not a delinquent, he went there to have a good time with family, my other brothers and an in-law but then a fight broke out”, his sister Julie claimed.

After police showed up, people began scattering and those severely injured were left behind.  The real attackers, she claimed, reportedly fled the scene in taxi and police only arrested those at the scene.

Kaieteur News asked her how she knows who the real attackers are, and the woman responded that La Cruz had lost his cell phone at the scene and it appears as if the “real attackers” had stolen it.

“They have been calling us on his number and asking us about the case if the boys are in jail and so,” Julie said before adding that the individuals would then threaten them to not give any information to police that they were there on the night of the attack.

“They tell we if we talk or them see we walking around, they will kill all a we (translated from Spanish).

 

 

(Man, arrested by police, dies in custody from gunshot wound)

 

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• Corporation Communications Department, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, gunshot wound, Warau suspect

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