Residents of Cocorite are bracing for further murders that they fear may take place in their community after the shooting death of former Jamaat-al-Muslimeen insurrectionist turned contractor, Junior Matthew Neptune. He was killed yesterday morning while on his way to his mini-mart. The 41-year-old father of four had just left his home at Ethlyn Trace around 9.45 am yesterday when a car pulled up and a man opened fire on him.
Neptune, who went by the Muslim name Abdul Jabbar, was shot several times and died outside his business place which was being renovated. He was a contractor and had been hired to do renovations on two Housing Development Corporation (HDC) buildings in the area. Residents told the media Neptune was “a good boy” who used to keep the peace in the area. Two elderly women, seated on an old air-conditioning unit, spoke of the horrors they were sure would follow Neptune’s death. “It would be real war now. Allyuh photographers would have plenty work in Cocorite because of that man lying down there,” one woman said.
Another said yesterday was “Black Monday” and said the appropriate Play Whe mark would be four for “dead man.” Another resident said despite Neptune being like a fairy godfather to many youths in the area, he lived by the sword and died by it. One woman said she was planning on staying indoors during the night. At the murder scene Neptune’s sister Sue-Ann Neptune said she got a phone call yesterday to say her brother had been killed. “He was a good man, always hustling to provide but was also quiet and used to keep to himself. He had four children. “Really and truly, I don’t know why they did this. I don’t live down here so I can’t say I hearing this or hearing that. I really don’t know,” Neptune said. When undertakers removed Neptune’s body around 2 pm his widow screamed out for him and had to be consoled by a female police officer and her mother.
According to residents this was the second time Neptune was shot within the space of four weeks. Earl St Bernard, a 32-year-old PH driver who worked for Neptune, was killed on September 23 after gunmen saw him bring Neptune home from the hospital after he had been shot. Neptune, they said, told his shooters if they wanted war they could get it and believed yesterday’s killing was one battle in the upcoming war. Police said a high-powered weapon was used in the killing as over 25 spent shells were found at the scene. Neptune is believed to have been hit by at least half that number of shots. His murder took the toll to 317 for the year, six more than the corresponding period last year.