The murderous madness that has plagued the country for the past twelve months did not pause on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24; on this night of celebration and preparation a stabbing incident, allegedly sparked by an “old beef”, has left a Hattieville teen of the Bainsville area lying in the morgue, after he was stabbed in the heart in a bar.
Leon Ebanks, 19, a farmer of Mile 17 ½ of the Western Highway, was killed at a bar, Bamboo Cool Spot, shortly after 1:00 a.m. after having drinks on Christmas Eve, Friday.
A few hours before his murder, Ebanks was at home helping with the baking of a turkey when at around 11:00 p.m., he was visited by a friend, and he and the friend decided to leave his home to recreate at a bar that is located about a mile away from his home.
After asking his mother to finish baking the turkey, Ebanks reportedly left the home, never to return.
Today when we visited the Ebanks’ residence, we met Ebanks’ stepfather, Lynsford Slusher, who raised him from the age of ten.
Still not clear on what had transpired on the night Ebanks was fatally stabbed, Slusher told us he was awakened by a call at around 2:00 in the morning informing him that his son had been stabbed and was lying on the bar floor, unresponsive.
In response to the devastating news, Slusher said he jumped out of bed hoping for the best, but figured that Ebanks must have been badly injured. He said he then ran downstairs and began servicing his car, but when he arrived at the bar, Ebanks had already been transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City.
Upon reaching the hospital, Slusher met a friend of Ebanks, who told the family that he did not make it. Slusher said he never got a chance to see his son before he died.
And while police did not release much information on the incident, except for the time and date of the occurrence, Slusher says that word to the family is that Ebanks was killed over an old beef. As a matter of fact, Slusher told us that they had assumed that some closure had finally been reached just two weeks ago when a matter that had gone to court was struck out.
An eyewitness told Amandala that when Ebanks and the friend arrived at the bar, they were greeted by three men, who began to “punch out” hands in a form of greeting, and who also invited Ebanks and the friend for a drink.
The eyewitness added that the men told Ebanks that they wanted to rekindle their past friendships, and wanted to do away with the animosity, and that Ebanks, in response, had said he was over with the beef.
Only Ebanks took the drink with the men, said an eyewitness, but Ebanks’ friend refused.
Allegedly, Ebanks, after having his drink, went ahead and had his friend’s drink as well, since the friend did not want it.
After having the friend’s drink, Ebanks then reportedly told the friend that it was time for them to leave.
As Ebanks was about to exit the bar, he stooped to place the empty bottle on the ground, but when he tried to stand up, the eyewitness said, one of the three men stabbed him in the chest, directly in the heart.
Ebanks fell to the ground and told the friend to run; the friend, the eyewitness said, fled the scene, with the assailants running behind him, but he managed to escape.
Slusher said the tragedy has really brought grief to the family. He recalled Ebanks as a dancer and joker, someone who loved to make other people laugh.
Anthony Lewis, 21, an employee of a local call center, who also resides in Hattieville, was detained by Police and charged with Ebanks’ murder. He appeared in the Magistrate’s Court later this evening.
No plea was taken, and Lewis was remanded into custody until January 7, 2010.