PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI, on Sunday, joined the family and friends of the late Anthony Cort at Sandy’s Funeral Parlour to bid farewell to the 10-year-old whose life was tragically cut short on March 11. Cort was shot dead by bandits during a home invasion in ‘C’ field Sophia, Greater Georgetown. President Ali comforted Cort’s mother, Denise McPherson, and other relatives who gathered at the funeral home to say their final goodbyes. The President, in his brief remarks, said this is a time for all Guyanese to unite in prayers in support of the grieving family. “As a nation, let us come together and pray for this family who tragically lost their loved one and for all of the other families who have also lost loved ones in this pandemic,” the Head-of-State was quoting as saying by the Office of the President.

Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugh Todd, accompanied the President and also offered their condolences to the family. The Guyana Chronicle had reported that a now deceased Cort and his mother were at the home of a businesswoman when two armed men invaded the property and stole a quantity of cash and jewellery. Cort was in the upper flat and a number of persons were in the bottom flat at the time of the robbery. According to reports, the bandits ordered the victims to the upper flat of the house. The boy reportedly exited a bedroom at the same time and one of the bandits opened fire, hitting him in the left shoulder. Realising it was only a child, the bandits fled the scene, jumping the back fence of the yard, making good their escape. Emergency services were summoned and they pronounced the child dead at the scene. A 16-year-old boy has since been charged and remanded to prison for the murder of the lad. While the teenager has been identified as the prime suspect, police are currently seeking his accomplice.