Manchester landscaper Andrew Williams found shot dead in Trinity home

A 57-year-old Manchester landscaper and community cook was found fatally shot inside his Trinity home near Porus last Thursday, leaving relatives who had long feared another health crisis stunned by a violent death instead.

Andrew Williams, affectionately known as One Son, had survived eight strokes and lived with diabetes, severe hypertension and a heart condition. Family members said they had expected that if they lost him, it would be to illness. Neighbours raised the alarm after discovering him at the house; his body, riddled with bullets, was found in the bedroom.

His eldest son, Castillo, who lives overseas, said his mother — still close to Williams despite their separation — telephoned him in a panic after neighbours reported Williams lying unconscious on the ground. Castillo first assumed another stroke or heart attack.

"I told her to go there and check for a pulse because it could be his heart or strokes," he said.

Moments later his mother reported blood at the scene and said neighbours had heard a gunshot and warned her not to go inside. Castillo said he urged her to check anyway, then the call cut off. He contacted a cousin working in Mandeville and asked him to rush to the house. About 20 minutes later, the cousin confirmed what Castillo had dreaded.

"He went in there and told me it looks like he got a gunshot. I told him this can't be real and they must be crazy," Castillo said, breaking down as he questioned how his father had died.

Castillo remembered weekends trailing Williams from the cook shop to landscaping jobs, and described him as a jack of all trades who painted, did plumbing and electrical work, and cooked at funerals, parties and community events.

"Nobody, nothing can justify that. He does not deserve that. [He] is a humble man," Castillo said. "He does not deserve this. My father is an innocent man and I will take that to my grave. I will do everything within the law to bring justice and closure. That man is my hero and the hero of many people."