Five years after the death of Shaquon Cave, in similar circumstances to that of American George Floyd, his parents are still waiting for the police officer who allegedly put his foot in their son’s neck to face the law courts.
They are also beginning to query the reason behind the delay in the toxicology result which police said was supposed to come from Trinidad.
“We need closure,” father Andrew Cave told the Saturday Sun as he mourned but still fondly remembered his son on April 10 – the day he died. Mother Trudi Chow said she was fed up and angry as she renewed her call for justice.
It was on April 10, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic while the country was on lockdown, that police issued a report stating that Cave, 27, collapsed and died at the entrance of the Black Rock Police Station.
It stated: “Police received a telephone call today, Friday, April 10, that a man was in the area of Skeete Road, Fairfield, Black Rock, St Michael, throwing stones, bottles, breaking windows, damaging cars and houses. The caller further reported that he was shouting profanity, and eating and drinking out of garbage cans and behaving quite strangely. A joint police response was initiated from Black Rock, District ‘A’ Station, CID and SCATS departments and on arrival, were met by some residents who had held the suspect.
No signs of life
“He was handed over to police. On entering the station he collapsed on the floor. Medical assistance was summoned and [an] ambulance arrived shortly afterwards. Medical personnel reported that he was unresponsive and showed no signs of life. A medical doctor later pronounced death.”
However, Chow, who recalled reporting to police that her son was missing and acting strangely, said she conducted investigations and heard from several eyewitnesses that an officer had her son subdued. He was lying on the ground holding onto a fence while the officer held him down with his foot in his neck, she added. She said that officer was waiting for his colleagues to bring a mask for Shaquon and that took several minutes.
Some of those eyewitnesses also told this newspaper that Shaquon stopped moving and when the police vehicle finally arrived, he was dragged by his two hands and lifted into it.
While a post-mortem listed two causes of death – pulmonary haemorrhage
and sudden cardiac death – police said samples were sent to Trinidad for analysis and the results were still outstanding.
Still carry pain
Questioning the long delay, an upset Cave said: “The world must not forget. Five years and still no justice for my son’s death. Five years have passed and I still carry the pain as though it just happened. Every time I push a door, I expect to see my son’s dead body on the ground as I did on that dreadful day, April 10, 2020, Good Friday, when I pushed the door to the Black Rock Police Station.”
He further queried: “Why did my son’s toxicology test had to be done in Trinidad? In 2025, we are one of the most developed and progressive countries in the Western Hemisphere. Hence, don’t we have the adequate facilities to expedite toxicology testing? If I was a high-profile individual in Barbados, would my son’s toxicology report still take five years and counting? I am calling on the Attorney General to personally look into my son’s case, in a quest to have that toxicology report. We need closure.”
Chow said she was still hurting over the death and it also had a devastating effect on his young daughter.
When contacted, the police investigator into the matter, Inspector Victor Forde, stated: “It doesn’t make sense holding a view until the analyst report comes back from the lab because it is only then that the toxicologist report would be able to say how Shaquon met his death. It is only when the analyst report is returned that the pathologist can come to a conclusion.”
Asked about a coroner’s inquest into the death, Forde said: “Once a person dies in police custody, a coroner’s inquest is mandatory but the coroner’s inquest cannot be held unless all of the reports are in hand.” (MB)
