A masked man barged into the Claxton Bay home of scrap iron dealer Timothy Francois, 55, on Thursday night and pumped two bullets into his head, killing him instantly.Francois's girlfriend, Rehana Brown, 24, who was lying in bed with him around 10.30 pm when he was shot escaped because the gun failed to discharge when the killer pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.
At this point the assailant fled into some bushes. A handyman, who was at Francois's home when the incident occurred, was also shot at by the man. The handyman has not been seen since. Police said there was no trail of blood to indicate he was injured and believe shock may have caused him to go into hiding.Police are investigating a cause for the killing as Francois' children said he was a good man who had no enemies.
His girlfriend was removed from the home by police.Francois, whose left leg was amputated from below the knee a year ago as a result of diabetes, was the father of four sons, one of whom died as a toddler. One of them, Shawndell, who lived with him, was at home when the incident occurred but in a different room of the house and was not harmed.
