A Bermudian father whose 26-year-old son was shot dead in Pennsylvania on Sunday night, allegedly by his cousin, told yesterday how he "hurt inside" but did not hate the killer.

Investigators said yesterday that Garrow Lightbourn Jr., known as Trevor, was shot in the chest by Cornell R. (Henny) Shawell at a low-income housing complex in Pottstown, a small community about 35 miles from Philadelphia. He had become a father for the second time just weeks before.

Shawell, 28, was yesterday charged with first and three-degree murder, as well as possessing an instrument of crime and flight to avoid apprehension. He appeared before a district judge yesterday and was remanded in Montgomery County Jail until a preliminary hearing on February 25.

Garrow Lightbourn Sr., also known as Trevor, told The Royal Gazette that several months ago his son told him he was planning to leave Pottstown because of the violence.

"He said 'daddy, I can't live here in Pottstown because there is too much shooting going on'. He was a good kid and had started to turn his life around."

Trevor Jr., whose nickname was Little Boy, was born in the US but grew up in Bermuda, attending Elliott Primary School, Whitney Institute and CedarBridge Academy. He has a two-year-old son, Ayinde Bulford, on the Island, and two-month-old daughter Tistara in Pennsylvania, where he went to live about a year ago.

Mr. Lightbourn Sr., 49, got a call from one of his daughters in the States just as he was getting ready for bed on Sunday night. "She just said 'Trevor's been shot and he is not moving'," said Mr. Lightbourn, of Spanish Crescent, Smith's.

"She was traumatised by the whole thing. Right after that my other daughter called and she asked me to say a prayer because she had to drive from Philadelphia down to Pottstown.

"When they got there he was already in hospital. They didn't get to see him. About a quarter after 12 they told me that he had passed. From the time I got the first call I was praying the whole time that he would be OK."

Father-of-four Mr. Lightbourn said he understood that his son's cousin, an American, was a schizophrenic and that Trevor Jr. went to his home to try to calm him down.

"He went by to console him; everybody was scared to go in the house. Trevor, being his closest cousin, he decided to go up to the door and talk to him. When Cornell opened the door he opened fire on him and shot him in the chest.

"I don't think he meant to do it. I think it was a case of mistaken identity. There was no animosity between them. They had their problems but they did make up."

He added of Shawell: "I do hurt inside but I don't hate him. I watched him grow up. Cornell was a very fine young man, growing up. I think he's more in shock now."

He added that his son's killing was a second blow for the family just two years after Trevor Jr.'s mother Lucinda died of asthma. "He was very outspoken," he said of his son, whose organs will be donated to help others live.

"He was a good kid, growing up. He loved bikes. He was a hard-working boy."

Stepmother Ann Lightbourn said: "I just feel for the two children he left behind. The children are not going to remember him."

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said yesterday the cousins had a "longstanding feud" about money which led to the killing in the Bright Hope Estates community. She claimed the shooting was "a deliberate, intentional premeditated killing".

"We do not know the genesis of the feud, what the money was for or exactly how much was involved," she said. "But we know they were fighting over money."

Mr. Lighbtbourne Sr. said the District Attorney's version of events did not square with what he had been told.

Court documents indicate that Trevor Jr. went to the apartment of Shawell's girlfriend at about 10 p.m. on Sunday.

A witness told Police she heard Shawell say he was "going to (expletive) him up", allegedly referring to his cousin. Shawell allegedly retrieved a .38-calibre revolver from inside the apartment and went outside and shot Trevor Jr.

He was pronounced dead at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center at 10.40 p.m. Post mortem results are pending.

Shawell is alleged to have fled the scene in his car and was arrested about an hour later at a friend's home. When Police arrived there they were attacked by a pit bull dog, which they shot dead.

Shawell was arrested and allegedly confessed to the killing. The arrest affidavit filed by detectives says: "According to Shawell, when Lightbourn walked up to him, Shawell shot him in the chest."

Shawell is alleged to have gone inside his girlfriend's house and discarded the gun there, where it was later retrieved. Authorities said the gun contained one spent cartridge case in its cylinder.