By Lakhram Bhagirat
He was gone in a matter of seconds. He took his last breath alone, lying on the hard cold streets of Georgetown while being riddled by bullets from those seeking to escape from him. He was just doing the job he loved doing and hoped to see his baby the next day.
Little did the family know that they would see him for the last time and they did not know that “see you later” actually meant goodbye forever. For the past six years, the family of Police Corporal 20196 Romain Cleto has been searching for that opportunity to be at peace with the fact that he was brutally killed but to date, they are yet to come to terms with his death.
At just 25 and a new father, Cleto had his life snuffed out by bandits who were going about wreaking havoc on several communities.
On April 27, 2013, Cleto reported for duty and was leading a mobile patrol in the vicinity of Regent Street and the Avenue of the Republic in Georgetown when they approached a suspicious-looking silver-coloured car. That fateful incident occurred just after 18:30h that Saturday evening. The area was busy at that time since it was in close vicinity to the University of Guyana-Plaisance Minibus Park just outside the Bank of Baroda and the attack was described as like being in a combat zone.
“Corporal 20196 Romain Cleto was fatally shot while Constable 21240 Randy Daly was shot and injured to his left arm and Constable 21144 Anil Persaud was injured by glass from the shattered windscreen. The injured ranks are being treated at the hospital,” the Guyana Police Force said in a statement following the incident.
Cleto was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital while his colleagues nursed their injuries. Based on eyewitness accounts, the new father noticed the suspicious-looking vehicle and began to approach it. However, before he could make contact with the occupants, they began to riddle him with bullets, causing his death almost instantaneously.
They also turned their locked and loaded gun(s) in the direction of the patrol vehicle and continued their assault before speeding off.
The pavement was stained with Cleto’s blood as he took his last breaths and several spent shells were recovered by his colleagues. The Bank of Baroda building also had several bullet holes.
As that was going down, Cleto’s girlfriend, Reanna Bollers was at home with their one-year-old daughter expecting that he would be home with them soon.
It was some time around 19:00h when Bollers received a call informing her that the father of her daughter was involved in an accident and she should make her way to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“When I got the call, I was at home with the baby and they told me that Romain was in an accident and that he at the Georgetown Hospital. I thought something happened to the vehicle and that was it, so I rush down to the hospital. But when I get there, my heart sink because I know something really bad had happened.
“When I got to the hospital and I see the people and I immediately know that it was serious. I was still thinking that it was an accident, but then they told me that there was a shooting and Romain was shot and pronounced dead at the hospital. I did not really remember anything after that, because my world went black,” Bollers remembers.
She told the <<>> that despite their daughter, Nivia, being just a year old then, she knows who her father was and how he died. The now seven-year-old is constantly reminded of her father, since there are several photographs of the two of them around the home.
Looking back on how much their lives have changed since Cleto’s tragic death, Bollers said moving on was more than tough. Everywhere she turned, she was reminded of her profound loss and every time she looked at their daughter, she was reminded of the need to move ahead.
Being 22 and a new mother made moving on much more difficult.
“It has been real hard for me to move on, because Romain was the first person in my life. It was hard for me and my daughter, because I was studying her the most because she would have been the one without a father. Moving on was hard, because I worry about our daughter because she was now fatherless.”
Nivia is growing up beautifully, but for Bollers, it is sad because her first love has missed every milestone in their baby girl’s life.
“Life goes on and we have to move on, but he is forever with us. We miss him every day and wished he was here. We really do.”
