(CNS): Family members of Harry Elliott Jr, who was gunned down and killed during a robbery gone wrong at a gambling shop in George Town last year, say the verdict of manslaughter was not what they had hoped for. They believe their loved one was a victim of murder. In a statement sent to CNS, the family said they were, however, grateful to the jury and the crown, as defendants Justin Kyle Jackson and Eric Brian Williams Soto have still been held partly responsible for their actions.

Harry Elliott, also known as Mr Harry and Junior, was a retired prison officer, but there is no indication that he was a target during the foiled and tragic incident. He was a victim of either an accidental discharge, which Jackson had claimed in his defence, or a person in the robbers’ way.

According to the evidence presented during the trial, Elliott had gone to try his luck with just a few dollars at the shop on School Road, run by retired police officer Keron Cupid. After buying numbers, he made his way to the door to leave, but at that exact moment, Jackson and Soto were waiting at the doorway to come in and rob the shop.

CCTV shows Jackson pulling and then cranking a gun as he stepped through the door, which Cupid had opened to allow Elliott to leave. Seconds later, Jackson stepped back into the small foyer and collided with his partner in crime, Soto. But with the gun still pointing into the shop, a shot went off and Elliott was hit in the head at close range.

All of the other customers and the owner of the illegal shop fled through a back door, leaving Elliott on the ground. It was not made clear at the trial who called 911, but the emergency services arrived soon afterwards and took Elliott to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Elliott’s family said he had lived an exemplary life, giving more than 30 years of his life to the prison service. After retirement, he had moved on to live a quiet, peaceful life.

“He was a routine individual and valued two core things in life, health and savings, and encouraged everyone around him to do the same,” his family said. “He was not an avid gambler and was quite conservative and strategic with how he spent his money.”

The family said their reaction to the verdict when it was delivered last week in court has been misinterpreted in some places; while they had sadly predicted the verdict of manslaughter, they were still hoping the jury would have found it was murder. They also offered their appreciation to the crown, which had presented a case for murder based largely on the CCTV evidence.

Despite Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Candia James-Malcolm’s best efforts to cross-examine Soto, whose answers were very hard to believe and made no sense, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on murder as required under the law and therefore defaulted to manslaughter.

Despite their disappointment with the outcome, the family nevertheless said that they could not “thank the crown enough for all of their hard work on this case fighting on Junior’s behalf”.

The statement continued, “Although it is not the verdict we presumed or hoped for… that being what it was, a murder, we are grateful that there was some accountability for both Jackson and Soto’s actions. This has been an extremely difficult and traumatic time for our family, and court has amplified these feelings.

“We live with the fact that this will not bring Junior back, however, we are wishful that in the future a full serving of justice will be explored. That said, no sentence can amount to the grief we continue to feel over Junior’s murder. It is totally impossible for Junior to be with us in flesh but his spirit remains in our hearts,” the family added.

They thanked members of the community as well as Junior’s former colleagues for “their unwavering support”. The family said they would “continue to fight for Junior’s justice and let everyone know how loved he is”.