“My son surrender, but the shop man still shoot he” – mother of dead bandit

The mother of 22-year-old Kevin Batson who was shot dead following a robbery in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) on Wednesday said she believes his life could have been spared after which he could have been made to face the justice system for his actions.

Raynetta Valladares explained that she did not condone the actions of her son, but she believed the incident could have ended differently.
Batson was reportedly shot by both the store owner and by Police as he and an accomplice fled with a number of items belonging to the owner of the store.
“According to what I heard, because I wasn’t there; I heard that the shop man shoot Kevin and when Kevin run, he surrender, put up a red bandanna waving. That is what the witness them saying, and the Police them still shoot Kevin. About two shots after the man already shot him. So, I’m very hurt about the situation, because they murder my child, but I don’t know who is the Police that went on the scene…nobody is telling me anything,” Valladares told Guyana Times on Thursday.
She continued that she was not briefed by ranks following the incident, as she was only allowed to provide basic information about her son and his living arrangements.
She noted that while she was being influenced by others to pursue justice over the way her son was killed, she was left with no other alternative but to perform his final rites.
“Because the fact remains, he wasn’t to go and do what he went to do. I’m a mother and I don’t encourage certain things. He wasn’t to do it, and at the same time, I feel like the Police wasn’t to kill him…I think they should’ve arrested him and let he stand trial and do he time… but I don’t know who to go to, what to do to get justice for him, but I’m just going to bury him and let God have his way,” Valladares said.
She described Batson, of 161 First Alley, Wismar, as a very “short tempered” individual who had moved out from her home about two months ago following an argument. At the time of the incident, he was staying with friends.
“He does get angry fast and you can’t talk to he. He does get vex quick and I does can’t deal with it, so he went with his friends them staying,” Valladares explained.
She indicated that apart from that, her son was a very loving and giving child.
“If he gets something and you need it, he would give you, that is how he was, but he was very high-tempered. I wouldn’t run away from the fact, but he was a very loving child,” the woman said.
She noted that prior to Wednesday’s incident, her son was never involved in any criminal activities of such magnitude.
“You would hear people saying he always in a ‘cuss out’ on the corner and a fight, he get chop up over a lighter and these things, but to hear he went and thief, I never hear that,” Valladares said.
The woman said, according to her understanding, her son was asleep when his accomplice woke him to carry out the act. She noted, however, that he had a mind of his own.
Batson, who was unemployed at the time of his death, reportedly robbed the Linden businessman at his hardware store situated at One Mile, Wismar at approximately 14:30h on Wednesday. He was shot by the businessman and succumbed to his injuries at Linden Hospital Complex (LHC).