Layou murder victim’s father suspects arson in burning of car

A vehicle belonging to a Layou man who lost a son to gun violence last year while another survived his injuries was destroyed by fire on March 21.

Desley Gaymes, a 54-year-old farmer and owner of the vehicle, said he suspects arson but police were yet to make an arrest this week, although he had told them what a witness had seen.

The vehicle, a Toyota Rav 4 2000 model, was parked at the side of the road across from Gaymes’ home in the Central Leeward town.

Gaymes told iWitness News he and his wife were lying in bed around 2 a.m. when he heard what sounded like a small explosion.

He said he got up and looked out the window, but could not see the vehicle from that viewpoint.

He said that he went outside and saw the vehicle on fire.

A property in the area has a camera pointed in the direction where the vehicle was parked and someone sent him what appeared to be edited footage from the camera, Gaymes said.

“The vehicle was there all night…. They only show you when the vehicle is on fire, which certain image from the camera that they cut out, I realise,” he said.

“They ain’t show we the full footage of the camera,” he said, adding that a resident saw everything but did not want to speak to the authorities.

Gaymes said the information he received was that the first attempt to set the vehicle on fire failed and the arsonist returned and lit the fire again.

He told iWitness News that the vehicle was functioning properly and he never had any problems with it since he bought it 10 months ago. It was covered by a comprehensive insurance policy.

Gaymes said that he had EC$3,700 as well as his driver’s and farmer’s licences and his national ID card inside the vehicle.

“I’m accustomed to leaving money in my vehicle,” he said of the cash, which he said was to pay for the vehicle’s licence and insurance

“It is something that I always do because my missis did just collect that money like a day before …”

Additionally, his farming tools, including water boots and a spray can were inside the vehicle and were destroyed by the blaze.

He said that his information is that the person who orchestrated his son’s murder also “set up” the person who burnt the vehicle. 

Gaymes’ son, Leon Gaymes, 26, was shot and killed in Layou on Nov. 18, 2023. Joveka Gaymes, 27, another of Desley’s sons, survived the injuries he sustained when he was shot twice in Layou on Dec. 2, 2023.

“And then we got some information that the people involved in the killing of Leon is they who set him up [to burn the vehicle],” he told iWitness News.

“I want justice but I notice the police them lapsing because in a situation like that, that is like taking a life,” he told iWitness News.

“Up to now, nothing has been done. The police them acting too slow. We called them and gave them information about where the guy was right away so that they could go and get him because they don’t stay one place; because they’ve done so much ah stupidness, they don’t stay one place,” he told iWitness News.