Durban - TARRY Nuallan Samuels would have celebrated his 49th birthday this week.
Instead, his friends and family will bury him at Shallcross Cemetery.
The 48-year-old Shallcross resident was shot 16 times on Saturday night in what is believed to be a hit.
Samuels, who owned a tuckshop
and tavern on the same premises on Taurus Street, was with friends when two men entered the establishment.
His wife Florence, 43, who was asleep in their nearby flat, said she was told the men asked for her husband before shooting him multiple times.
“My husband was behind the bar counter, and they asked if he was Tarry. When he responded yes, they brazenly opened fire on him in front of his friends. I was asleep in our flat when I heard the gunshots and glass breaking.”
She said she ran to the tavern.
“Tarry was on the floor. I shouted for him and passed out.”
The paramedics, she said, arrived and tended to her and her husband.
“Tarry was not responsive, but he was alive. The paramedics tried to
stabilise him and told him to keep fighting. I was at his side when he took his last breath.”
Florence said the events thereafter were a blur.
She said while she did not know the motive for the killing, she was adamant the shooting was premeditated.
“Why would a person come here, shoot a man and not take anything or ask for anything?” she questioned.
“To shoot a person 16 times is
inhumane. The person wanted to make sure he was dead. That’s why they shot him so many times. They wanted it to be brutal. My husband would never harm anyone, and there has not been anything in the past to indicate that he upset people.
“It’s a mystery to us right now.”
She continued: “I am praying my husband gets justice. The person who did this must pay the price for taking away such a humble soul.”
Florence described Samuels as a loving person.
“He hated to see people suffer. He used to give money to those who were battling.
“Tarry even bought bread for families who needed it.”
She said they did not have children, but he loved his animals.
“He had dogs, goats, chickens and fish. After the shooting, our dogs, Smallie and Simba, refused to leave Tarry’s side and did not want anyone to go near him. Since then, they are feeling down and are looking traumatised.”
She said although they did not have plans to celebrate his birthday, Samuels was spontaneous.
“He was not really looking forward to his birthday, but if he wanted to celebrate it, he would have come to me at the last minute and say, ‘Get ready, we are leaving’.”
Siven Subramodey, of Amawele Emergency Services, who responded
at scene, said Samuels sustained 16 bullet wounds.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said a case of murder had been opened but no arrests had been made.