Eric Jn Highnes shot dead in Bonne Terre, marks 2nd Homicide of Gros Islet

Castries, Saint Lucia: Eric Jn Highnes, a French national, was shot dead in Bonne Terre at Gros Islet on January 16, 2024, marking the second Homicide in the community within 24 hours and 5th Homicide in the nation.

As per the Law enforcement officials, the deceased became a victim of a fatal shooting on the road pavement, and his corpse was found near an SUV car on the same road.

Noting this, the recent shootings and attacks contributed to a grim statistic, making them the fourth and fifth recorded homicides for the year 2024.

Prime Minister Philip J Pierre is looking forward to implementing measures to combat the rising of such crimes in 2024; however, unfortunately, this terrifying incident occurred just a day after PM Pierre stated these measures.  

Furthermore, the shocking nature of these visuals shook the hearts and minds of the people and sparked widespread concern among the community, as people are not used to such incidents.

Moreover, the previous day of this incident, a man in his twenties fell victim to gun violence on Dauphin Street at the Gros Islet.

This news has been shared by various social media pages, and many people took to their official Facebook handle to express their concern and frustration regarding the homicides that happened in the country.

While reacting to the news, a person named Faith Made commented, “It’s time to bring back the death penalty for wanna-be bad boys. All rats have guns. Now.”

Some other comments read as,

“It’s so sad only 15 days into a new year and we have hit number 5…st lucians…please stop the violence…we need our young men….children need their fathers…women need their men.. parents need their children…please stop the violence.”

“Like the Caribbean running race to see who has the most homicides or what? This year, watch out for lots of judgement of the Almighty if it eh hear you all eh hearing. Murders outta style.”

Additionally, Saint Lucia recorded its first homicide case of 2024 on January 6, where Omar Francis, aka ‘Kodak’, was identified as the first homicide victim of the nation. The incident occurred in the community of Ravine Poisson.

Noting this, he was shot dead while he was sleeping in his bed. Francis was originally from Leslie Land Castries.