Two separate funerals for Herod family members
PREPARATIONS were yesterday being finalised for two separate funerals, today, of the eight family members who died in last week's mass murder/suicide at Buxton, East Coast Demerara. Sources said that the killer, Raul Herod, who was a security guard with the firm Securior (Guyana) Inc., will be buried at Le Repentir Cemetery in Georgetown, while the others, who died by his hands, will be laid to rest at the Buxton Cemetery. One big tomb for the seven was under construction at Buxton yesterday. A huge crowd from Buxton and neighbouring villages is expected to turn out for the funeral service of the seven slain relatives, to be held at the St Augustine's Anglican Church, Friendship, East Coast Demerara. Herod's sister had told the Chronicle that the body of her son Orwin, 15 and the charred remains of her daughter, Jonelle, ten, may be placed together in one casket. The remains of her mother, Shirley Cole, 56, aunt Patricia `Patsy' Harris, 58, grandmother Angela Herod, 97, and two of the killer's three children - Rondell, 11, and Nandy Herod, 14, will be placed in two other caskets. Herod shot his family after telling his wife to leave the house and "enjoy her life". The tragedy was apparently triggered by a derogatory remark made by Herod's mother about his wife during a family row. Some family members died of gunshot wounds while others perished in a fire he set to the two-flat wooden house, Government Pathologist, Dr Leslie Mootoo said. Herod's son Jermaine, the lone survivor, is still in the Paediatric Ward of the Georgetown Hospital with a bullet in his left jaw. He will not be able to attend the funeral of his seven family members, the Chronicle understands. Jermaine recalled that after he was shot, he escaped to a neighbour's home, and was later taken to the hospital. A nurse in the ward yesterday confirmed that the bullet is still lodged in Jermaine's left cheek, and doctors are uncertain when he will undergo a surgery. Medical personnel recently said the bullet is not in a dangerous position, and that it is better to wait until the child was less susceptible to infection. The lad is recovering, but cannot eat solid foods. Jermaine said he is alright, but he wants to go home as soon as possible although family and friends visit him daily. His mother, Herod's first wife, committed suicide by drinking poison several years ago.
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