Barrington Flemming – Staff Reporter
Sunday, August 25, was a night of horror that has left 64-year-old Morene Forrest traumatized and heartbroken, as gunmen snuffed out the life of her 68-year-old husband, Calvin Forrest, shattering the couple’s dream of living out the December of their years in the tranquil climes of Bastard Cedar Valley, Petersfield, Westmoreland.
“He was everything to me. We just returned here from England in June of 2018. So, it is just over a year since we have been back. We were living a simple life. He usually takes me out when he was not taking care of his animals. But we usually stay in otherwise. I am very sad, very sad, yes, but God has given me peace,” said a distraught Morene Forrest.
Reports indicate that about 8:15p.m on Sunday, Mr. Forrest went to the back of the yard to feed his pigs, and when he was returning, he was pounced upon by two men armed with guns, who held him at gunpoint and demanded money.
Forrest refused and the men put him to sit on the step and knocked on the back door.
Mrs. Forrest, who was inside, came and opened the door and was immediately confronted by the two men, one of whom pointed a gun at her and demanded money, which she refused. She managed to shut the door and called out for help. Not long after, explosions were heard outside.
The police were summoned and they came to the house where they saw Mr. Forrest lying on his back in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the forehead.
Mrs. Forrest recounted that when she opened the door the man who stuck the gun at her tried to force the door open to gain entry to the house. “I don’t know where I got the strength but I pushed it and closed it. I ran to the front and closed the grill and shouted ‘Help, thief!’, but nobody came. It was then I heard the explosion,” she recalled. “He had just gone out to feed the animals and then would come to bed,” she lamented.
The couple got married in 1992, and Mrs. Forrest said her husband of 27 years saved her life by staying outside with the men.
“He really saved my life. They kept on asking him to open the door but he said ‘No’. He knew I was inside. So right now, I don’t know what I am going to do. I know though that I need to give him a good send off.”
She said it was just two weeks ago that the house was broken into and her husband was slapped hard in the face.