By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

A Bahamian man who initially survived a deadly maritime drug bust in Haiti has died under suspicious circumstances, the third Bahamian now believed to have been killed in connection with the same incident.

Joey Russell, 43, from Sandy Point, Abaco, was taken into custody on Sunday after Haitian authorities intercepted a vessel reportedly carrying several Bahamians and a Jamaican man.

A video that circulated online on Monday showed him on the vessel — bleeding but responsive — speaking to Haitian officers and pointing out suspected drugs at their request. A Jamaican man, also severely injured and bleeding, appeared in the footage.

Yesterday, new footage emerged showing Russell conscious on what appeared to be an operating table. A separate clip showed him motionless, seemingly dead. The source and context of the videos are unclear, but they have intensified suspicion around how he died.

According to his older brother, Lionel Russell, shortly after the shooting, Russell called a family friend and said that only he and the Jamaican man had initially survived, but the Jamaican later died.

Lionel said the family was later told Joey had only a minor shoulder injury and was recovering in the hospital. They even sent money to help cover his medical expenses.

He said the family friend visited the hospital and was told by a doctor that Joey had just come out of surgery and everything had gone well. He said the doctor did not let the friend speak to Joey because he was sedated.

He said minutes later, the doctor called the friend back to say Joey had died from a heart attack and hadn’t made it through surgery.

Lionel believes Joey may have recognised the person filming him in the operating room and was afraid for his life. He suspects his brother was killed because of what he knew.

He said: “It didn’t sound right to us. It’s like two different stories with everything that’s going on.” 

The deaths of two other Bahamian men have also been linked to the same incident. One of them, Shadrack Stuart — a father of three from Moore’s Island — was identified by his family after photos of his body floating in the water surfaced online. Details about the other Bahamians are unclear.

Lionel said he does not believe the men were killed at sea. He suspects they were killed on land and that efforts were made to make it appear as though the shootings happened in the water. He pointed to photos of one of the victims, saying they showed the body in two different locations — one in shallow water near a buoy close to land, and another in the open ocean — and questioned how that could be possible.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is having difficulty obtaining accurate and timely updates from Haitian authorities. Officials told The Tribune they remain in contact with some of the families but have received no new information.

Early reports from the ministry suggested the group was travelling on a speedboat when they came under fire from “unknown persons”. One man was hospitalised — believed to be Russell — and another was unaccounted for.

Haitian police later gave a different account, saying that officers intercepted a rowboat, that “two Jamaicans drowned”, and that a Bahamian man was taken into custody. They also said over 90kg of cocaine was seized and claimed other suspicious vessels may still be at large.

Lionel criticised the government’s response, saying it lacked urgency and seriousness.

“Our government them too slack,” he said. “They catch the Haitian them on the water, you bring them in and carry them to the land. You carry them to the Detention Centre. You clear them, you feed them, you clothe them. They give them money and ship them back home. Why can’t (Haitian authorities) do the same thing for our people?”

He said the family is trying to bring Joey’s body home themselves.

“We can’t wait on the government,” he said.