The same ‘community gun’ has been used by a number of different criminals in multiple offences in Grand Cayman, including the murder of former prison officer Harry Elliott, the Grand Court heard last week.
Details of the mystery weapon’s bloody history emerged during the sentencing hearing of Luisto Hernandez, who was convicted earlier this month of attempted murder.
Hernandez shot his stepfather in the stomach after a heated dispute over the right way to feed a child a mango. The victim had thrown a bottle at Hernandez, injuring his child. He had left the scene, returning later with a gun, and shooting the man twice.
The weapon was never found, but ballistics evidence, linked it to multiple other crimes involving a variety of assailants – suggesting it was a gun for hire, available to those in the community with the right connections.
The gun’s unique ballistic fingerprint was found at the scene of Elliott’s murder in April 2022, as well as a number of other crime scenes over the past two years, according to prosecutors.
The weapon’s history has echoes of the ‘mystery smoking gun’, which a Compass investigation last year, revealed had been linked by police to three different murders, an armed robbery and a terrifying home invasion.
In this case, the weapon was different, but methodology of a ‘community gun’ appears similar.
The make and model of the gun is unknown, however, ballistics evidence suggests it is a .38 calibre handgun.
It’s also not clear how long it has been in Cayman.
According to court records, the handgun was first used during a robbery at a barbershop on Eastern Avenue, George Town, on the night of 23 June 2021, when three masked men, one armed with the gun and another armed with a knife held up the premises. A single shot was fired, and an undisclosed sum of cash was taken.
Three days later, the same gun resurfaced, this time in West Bay where it was used in an aggravated burglary, around 3:45am on 26 June 2021, at a residence in Adonis Drive, West Bay.
Similar to the first instance, three men stormed the home, one armed with the gun.
During the aggravated burglary, the occupant was shot. He was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital where he was treated for a single-gunshot wound and later discharged.
Between June 2021 and April 2022, the gun dropped off the radar and is not linked to any other crimes. While it is possible that the gun was taken out of rotation, it is also possible that it could have been used to intimidate victims but not discharged, thereby leaving no ballistic trail.
Dispute over a mango
The next time the gun was fired was on 20 April 2022 – this time by Hernandez.
During his trial, the jury heard that Hernandez was feeding his young son a mango when his stepfather approached him and told him the mango was too big for the child and he should cut it into smaller pieces.
An argument erupted between the two men, the stepfather threw a beer bottle at Hernandez. It missed and shattered on the ground causing a shard of glass to injure Hernandez’s young daughter.
In response, he left the tenement yard, returned 10 minutes later armed with the handgun, and shot his stepfather twice.
The prosecution is calling for Hernandez to receive a sentence of between 20 and 30 years for the charge of attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Same gun used in murder
Three days later, the gun was used again – this time in the fatal shooting of former prison officer Elliott who was killed in a complex off School Road, George Town, during what officers suspect was a robbery of an illegal gambling scheme.
Justin Jackson and Eric Brian Williams Soto were both taken into custody in relation to the shooting and are due to stand trial for the killing later this year.
After two years, one robbery, one aggravated burglary, one attempted murder and one murder, the whereabouts of the gun still remains unknown.
In October 2022, Cayman Compass reported on another mystery gun thought to be a community gun for hire that was also linked to several violent crimes and killings. That gun has also not been located by police.
Cayman Compass reached out to the RCIPS seeking a comment in relation to the second mystery gun, no comment was received by press deadlines. However, police did say a statement would be forthcoming in the next few days.
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