BREAKING: Prison Officer Roxanne Winfield who tried to stop 2002 Jailbreak, dies

Former Prison Officer Roxanne Winfield

The name Roxanne Winfield is very familiar in some sections of society especially among law enforcement and the prison population.

Winfield was the Georgetown Prison Guard who was shot in her eye almost twenty years ago when five notorious high profile criminals shot their way out of the Camp Street Jail on February 23, 2002.

Winfield died on Thursday at the Covid-19 Hospital at Liliendaal from severe lung and Kidney complications. She was 58 years old.

Her daughter told BIG Smith News Watch that her mother was admitted to the hospital on October 23, after complaining of feeling unwell.

Prison Officer Roxanne Winfield was described as a hero by many as it is believed that had it not been for her, a larger number of prisoners would have escaped on that day back in 2002 which also saw her losing at least one colleague.

On the day in question, after an alarm was raised and it became clear that the facility was compromised and being overrun by inmates trying to escape, Winfield who was on gate duty at the time, attempted to lock the gates as the escapes approached her and she was shot in the eye, a bullet which many said was intended to kill her on the spot,

The 2002 Jailbreak saw the escape of Troy Dick, Shawn brown, Andrew Douglas, Mark Fraser and Dale Moore. Together, they unleashed a most unforgettable crime wave in Guyana which is still fresh in the minds of many alive today.

Their acts of robberies, kidnapping and murders stalked Guyana for a long period before they were eventually implicated in confrontation with security forces and in some instances, clashes with a Death Squad which was operating at the time and said to have been formed to track the very five men down.

The shooting of Roxanne Winfield rendered her medically unfit to function as a prison officer and was being cared for at home. A special home was also built for her to allow her, despite her disability, to move around her own home.