Yanie Valade and her late father, in happier times. (Photo from Yanie Valade’s Facebook).
~ Mol: ‘Efforts have increased to find perpetrator’ ~
PHILIPSBURG–“The sound of the shot is haunting me,” Yanie Valade said in an emotional Facebook post on Friday describing the shooting of her father Sylvain Valade, who was gunned down in an armed robbery on Beacon Hill Road on Wednesday, June 5.
Sylvain Valade, a 48-year-old Canadian who was vacationing in St. Maarten when he was shot, passed away on Friday in a hospital in Florida, where he was flown after being shot during the armed robbery.
“I miss to describe the evil I feel for losing you in this way,” Yanie Valade said in the message on her Facebook wall, which was posted in French and translated into English. “A tragic and unimaginable end. The images are constantly turning in my head, and the sound of the shot is haunting me.
“My daddy of love, you left as a hero, you saved my life and you protected me until your last breath, as you’ve always done. Today I lost a part of me, the man of my life, the best father we can have. I’m counting on you to give me the strength and courage to continue. I love you from unconditional love and irreplaceable love. Watch over me as you have been doing since my childhood. You will be in my heart forever, I love you,” the post read.
Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson told The Daily Herald on Sunday that the family had informed the head of the Detective Department that the victim had passed away on Friday.
In an invited comment, Chief Prosecutor Mirjam Mol said in a statement issued via spokesperson Hazel Durand that efforts have increased to find the perpetrator.
“This indeed came as a big shock to the Prosecutor’s Office and KPSM [St. Maarten Police Force – Ed.],” Mol said. “We are saddened by this tragedy. The investigation is ongoing and efforts have increased to find the perpetrator.”
Durand said a meeting would be held amongst all partners on Monday following which a detailed press release will be issued.
Police had said in a press release after the incident that a Canadian man was walking with his daughter when the two were approached by a suspect who attempted to steal from them. After a brief struggle, the man was shot and the suspect fled the scene in a vehicle. The victim was flown abroad for medical treatment, but succumbed to his injuries on Friday.
Henson said in a press release issued on Sunday that no suspect(s) had been arrested in this case and detectives repeated their plea for persons in the community to come forward with information to assist in the investigation, particularly persons who were in the immediate area when the incident occurred.
Henson told this newspaper that information about the case has been coming in “very slowly.”
Police are continuing their investigations.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/88162-the-sound-of-the-shot-is-haunting-me-says-canadian-murder-victim-s-daughter
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