A 30-year-old Kitty, Georgetown resident was on Saturday morning shot dead after he reportedly ran into his neighbour’s hotel in pursuit of his handyman who had intervened after he assaulted his girlfriend outside the Tourist Villa Hotel.
The hotel where the incident occurred
Dead is Jason De Florimonte of Lot 96 Fifth Avenue, Subryanville.
It is alleged that about 01:45h on Saturday morning, Florimonte, who was a beer vendor, and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Christine Rambarran were involved in an argument in front of his home which is next door to the hotel. This caught the attention of a handyman employed at the hotel who intervened to assist the woman.
The intervention by the 29-year-old handyman reportedly angered De Florimonte, and an argument ensued. Realising that the situation was escalating, the handyman ran into the hotel with De Florimonte in hot pursuit. The owner of the hotel whipped out his licensed firearm and fired several shots in De Florimonte’s direction. After realising that De Florimonte had been shot, relatives rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was reportedly shot several times to the right side of his chest.
When Guyana Times visited the scene, an aunt of the now deceased man, Wendy De Florimonte related that she was at home at the time when the incident occurred. After being notified of the incident, she ran outside and saw her nephew lying motionless on the ground.
“So, I was in my bed just after 01:00h, when my son said to me that somebody got shot over the road. I had on my headphones, so I didn’t hear the shots and so he heard it from inside the bedroom,” the aunt related.
“I jumped up immediately to look out over the balcony and I heard my nephew’s girlfriend screaming that they shoot Jason. I ran out and he was lying on my side of the street right by my parapet motionless, but you could see that he was kinda gasping.”
Her neighbour was asked to summon the Police and ambulance. At that time, the hotel owner was outside and reportedly told her that her nephew confronted him which caused him to defend himself.
“I asked my neighbour what happened ‘cause she came out at the same time and then I asked her to call the ambulance, so she said she did. I realised that he had four bullet holes in his chest,” she stated.
Additionally, the woman explained that many eyewitnesses were present at the scene since there was a party at the guesthouse during that time.
Meanwhile, it was related that the deceased and the suspect had had many disputes and verbal exchanges in the past. Neighbours, however, claim that the man was mentally unstable.
“They had broken up and she was coming back to reconcile and she was here last night, but she left. She (the girlfriend) told the Police that he pushed her and then the handyman come. This dude, if you ask the neighbours, he is very, very, very unstable. He’s an unstable character,” a neighbour said.
This publication was informed that video surveillance footage from a neighbouring building was unobtainable, since nearby trees and garbage bins obstructed the site where the shooting occurred. Police information has indicated that the businessman is a licensed firearm holder. He was arrested while the dead man’s body was at the Georgetown Public Hospital awaiting a post-mortem examination.
