Jan. 23/15 - Ysmaille Jean Baptiste Killed

Today was a terrible day here at Coram Deo. Around noon we heard gunfire in front of our house. I was in my room and heard the sounds. The children dove to the ground and a couple of the teachers came running to the back of the house. At first I thought that there were gunmen in the yard. When I went outside everyone was crying and there were people crying and wailing. They told me that Ysmaille had been shot. His vehicle was parked in front of our house with the engine runni...ng. He was shot 3 times and had a gunshot wound to his head. His cousin was with him in the vehicle and he was shot too. His cousin, Ricardo was loaded into the back of the pickup truck. We raced to the hospital and flagged down a police vehicle as we drove to escort us to Bernard Mevs Hospital. When hospital personnel unloaded Francisco from our truck he was complaining that he couldn't feel his leg. I was worried that he was paralyzed from a gun shot to the back. The people thought it was 2 shots he received but after a cat scan and physical examination he had a through and through shot and was released from the hospital later this afternoon. We went to find Ysmaille's children at their school but they had already gone home. We picked them up from their house and brought them to the office where Ysmaille worked. His fiancé had boarded a flight to return to the United States and received word that Ysmaille had been shot. Ysmaille had gone to the bank to cash a cheque. The bank for whatever reason told him they couldn't give him money right then. When he drove away he was followed by a couple of guys on a motorcycle. They approached the vehicle and told Ysmaille to give them the money that he had removed from the bank. He told them that he didn't have any money. They saw a bag beside Ysmaille and thought it was a bag of money. In reality it was Ysmaille's lunch. They shot Ysmaille and Ricardo and grabbed the envelope with the cheque and the bag. They fired in the air to keep everyone away from them and drove off on their motorcycle. Down the next side street the thieves saw a woman walking down the street. They shot and killed her and drove off with her purse. So many lives were changed with those gunshots. 2 people lost their lives and 1 person wounded. The police told us to be in lockdown mode while they investigate the shootings. Our visitors that are here from Canada will be staying at a safer house. Please keep everyone in prayer. Ysmaille was loved by many people. He leaves behind his fiancé Nadia, a son and an adopted daughter. The toughest thing to do today was to tell his son and daughter that their father was dead. Please keep them in prayer. Nadia told us that Ysmaille once told her that if he were to die that he would want to be buried next to his mother. Pray for all the arrangements that will be made for the funeral and especially for justice, that the killers would be caught and punished.