A man who had previously been charged with murder, but had the case against him dropped, was shot and killed in Pinewood Gardens on Monday night.
The victim is Edward Butler, 44, according to his brother.
Police said Butler was standing on the front porch of his home on Acacia Street, Pinewood Gardens, at around 9:09 p.m. when the occupants of a black Nissan Note pulled up and shot him multiple times.
Police said the occupants then drove off.
Butler was rushed to hospital by friends who told The Nassau Guardian they were able to get him there in 10 minutes.
During their desperate drive to the hospital, they were intercepted by a police escort. They were also in touch with police control room before they arrived at the hospital.
However, Butler died before he could get treatment, according to the people who took him to the hospital.
On September 19, 2017, he was charged with the September 4, 2017 murder of Elton Hanna.
According to police, Hanna was shot dead outside his home on Croton Street, Pinewood Gardens.
Butler received a nolle prosequi in that case, which is when the prosecution abandons the charges against a defendant.
Butler’s friends said he was solely focussed on his one daughter.
“All of us have challenges that we would have to overcome,” said activist Khandi Gibson, director of Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM), at the scene of the murder, which was across the street from a preschool.
Gibson is also the victim’s neighbor and said she often saw him with his daughter.
“The person I’ve grown to know throughout the years was a friendly young man,” she said.
“Every day you would see him with his daughter. Every day you would see him on his bike dropping his daughter to school and [picking her up after].
“It’s just sad that [life doesn’t seem to have value anymore]. People feel it’s okay, whatever the reason is, they can just come and just gun you down and they don’t understand the effect it has on family and friends.
“That’s the sad part about it. I have known him throughout the years. His mother used to sell food, so that’s how I came into contact with him.
“He was not on bail for murder. Yes, he [was] charged a few years ago and he … won the case. … You’ll stop trying to say everybody who got killed was on bail for murder. The young man was not on bail for murder. Let’s stop tarnishing people’s names.”
