On Friday night we reported on Odner Estiverne, the 40 year old Haitian-Belizean dollar-van driver who was shot in his vehicle at the corner of Complex Avenue and Jones Street. He was shot to the midsection at 5:15 PM, and half an hour later, he died at the KHMH, the record 11th murder in October.
But for his family, the loss is a lot more than just another numbing statistic, they are wracked by grief and loss - because Estiverne wasn't any kind of criminal, or gang-banger, or someone who dabbled in the underworld. He was just a dollar van driver who worked very hard to feed his family. His nephew, who asked to appear off camera, said that Estiverne on occasion would hang out with the wrong crowd but only to get them to the right side. He explained this afternoon.
Voice of: Chenelson Estiverne, Nephew Of Deceased
"My uncle I cannot say that he did not hang out with bad people. He did but he did it under one condition. To help them get out of what they are in."
Sahar Vasquez, reporter
"So he only hangs out with them to kind of help them get to a better place."
Chenelson Estiverne, Nephew Of Deceased
"Yes because he offers counselling to them and I always telling them this is the way. This is how things should get done not the other way."
Chenelson Estiverne, Nephew Of Deceased
"This is a big shock to everybody not just his family."
Chenelson Estiverne, Nephew Of Deceased
"I am a student and yes we will find a way and we have the family too that will help us."
Estiverne shared the house with a host of nephews and one niece who he leaves behind along with his wife and two young children that reside in the United States. He was killed half a mile from his home.
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