A George Town man has been convicted of attempted murder after shooting his father-in-law over a heated dispute about how to feed his young child a mango.
The jury, of five men and two women, was unable to come to a unanimous verdict after several hours of deliberation. Ultimately, they returned a majority verdict of 5-2 and 6-1 against Luisto Eusebio Hernandez on charges of attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm, respectively.
Hernandez opened fire on his father-in-law shortly after 7pm on 20 April 2022, at an Oakland Drive address in George Town where they had both lived for six years.
During the three-day trial, the complainant, whose identity the Cayman Compass is not releasing, told the jury the incident started over an argument about how to feed Hernandez’s young son a mango.
“I saw that he was feeding his youngest child a mango, and I told him that it was too big for the child and he should cut it up into smaller pieces,” said the complainant. “He told me to ‘F’ off’ and not to say anything to him, and that if I didn’t leave him alone, he would corn my skin.”
He explained to the jury that the term ‘corn my skin’ was a slang term meaning to get shot.
“I got angry and threw a beer bottle at him and it broke, and the glass got in his daughter’s eye,” he said. “Then he left the yard, got in his car and drove away.”
Hernandez returned 10 minutes later armed with a handgun, and the complainant said the moments that followed still haunt him to this day.
“When I saw him with the gun, I ducked behind the bar wall, and looked over the top a couple times and could see him coming,” he explained.
As he hid behind the plywood wall of the small bar located in the yard, the complainant said a gun was pointed towards him.
“Someone else was standing blocking the door and telling him “Don’t do it; don’t do it,” he said. “All I could think was I hope the gun doesn’t go off.”
Hernandez then walked away, pointed back and fired twice, with both shots going through the plywood. One bullet grazed the victim’s shoulder, entered his lungs and damaged other organs.
The gun used by Hernandez was never recovered.
Hernandez was remanded into custody and will be sentenced in the coming months.
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