Transgender sex worker Shawn Simon Hooper, known as “Coil Bottle,” was executed early Thursday morning, and an eyewitness has described the shocking events that led up to the incident.
Hooper was killed at approximately 02:00 hrs near King Street and South Road, Georgetown.
The incident unfolded during what appeared to be a routine business transaction, leaving witnesses traumatised and grieving.
Another sex worker, who goes by the name Unruly Lilawatti, was present at the scene and, through a Facebook post, detailed the sequence of events leading up to the shooting.
She said Hooper engaged in a transaction with an unknown man who had emerged from a silver car which was parked under a large tree. Unruly Lilawatti recounted how another transgender sex worker, identified as Pretty, was also in the vicinity during the transaction.
After receiving $9,000 from the man, Hooper was handed an additional $1,000 to pass on to her (Unruly Lilawatti).
As Pretty left to visit a nearby shop, Unruly Lilawatti observed a dark silver-tinted motor car circling the area, eventually stopping nearby on South Road. She mentioned that it was disturbing to her since it kept circling the area.
Lilawatti’s account detailed the tragic moment when Hooper, after several interactions with the vehicle, approached the car as it came to a stop.
“When Coil Bottle approached the car, I witnessed the car window roll down, followed by the sound of gunshots,” Unruly Lilawatti wrote.
Unruly Lilawatti said she then fled the scene, heading in the direction of Pretty who was returning from the shop when someone yelled “look the man drop down deh”. She quickly sought refuge at the Brickdam Police Station, where she reported the incident before returning to the scene on King Street and South Road.
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation confirmed Hooper’s death at the scene, with medical personnel pronouncing her dead.
The body was subsequently transported to Memorial Gardens funeral home pending an official post-mortem examination.