By: Joel Vogt
It has been 14 months since 39-year-old Garfield Newton, Head of the Black Hawks Martial Arts Academy, was fatally shot by bandits.
And while full justice has not yet been forthcoming for her son’s death Leona Walton-Barton remains optimistic, with a watchful eye on the judicial system as she awaits the final decision of the court.
“We are not waiting with bated breath; we just waiting cause I am sure if we hold our breath, we will die before anything of substance. But I trust they will do what is right and clear this up,” Walton-Barton posited.
Two men were early last year remanded to prison for the man’s murder, and a third suspect was later nabbed in Suriname.
Noting that she has surrendered the entire matter into the hands of her creator, the grieving mother noted that she would like to see her son’s killers brought to justice.
In the same breath, she posited that absolutely nothing could fill the void in her heart created by her child’s demise.
“I am not jubilated because anything the State or the system does to them, it wouldn’t avail me much because it wouldn’t bring back Garfield.”
Moreover, Walton-Barton shared that there has been a lack of information regarding her son’s case.
“I am not sure, and I don’t know how far they have gone or what is the status of it. Nobody call me, and they are not in contact with we either […] we just waiting on them.”
Newton was the eldest of four siblings and the only one residing in Guyana with his mother, wife, and eight-year-old son.
Asked how life has changed for her since Newton’s demise, Walton-Barton reiterated that a huge gap had been created.
Police had said that Newton was shot dead during a robbery at 22:00h on Christmas Eve night of 2021 at Campbell Street, Albouystown, while making his way back to his company’s vehicle after collecting his jewellry from a goldsmith.
