Haitian man shot in Providenciales dies after being denied treatment at hospital

The death of Jacius Jacquelin Rosilma comes in a context where members of the Haitian community, which represents 35% of the total population according to 2012 statistics, are accused of links with armed groups, singled out for « gangster-type » acts and regularly stigmatized

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Jacius Jacquelin Rosilma, a 36-year-old Haitian national living in Turks and Caicos Islands, died a few days after being hit by about half a dozen bullets during a shooting that occurred on July 27, 2025 in Providenciales.

According to testimonies gathered by AyiboPost from his family, Rosilma, who was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre for emergency treatment, was not admitted because he did not have health insurance coverage.

Jacius Rosilma before the July 27 shooting in Turks and Caicos Islands. Courtesy: Phara Michelle.

Phara Michelle, his wife, who accompanied him to the hospital, told AyiboPost that Rosilma’s regular status in the country did not protect him in any way in this situation.

Suffering and completely neglected by care providers for two days, Michelle continues, the man was finally sent home.

Brought back to Haiti by her family, Rosilma passed away on the night of July 31 to August 1, 2025 at the Justinien Hospital in Cap-Haïtien.

AyiboPost has sent a request for comment to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre; this article will be updated if there is a response.

The shooting took place at the Island Hookah Lounge and Cigar, a nightclub in Providenciales where the man worked as a security guard. It left three dead at once and about ten injured, including Haitians living on the island.

« My husband’s death is intimately linked to this refusal of care, » believes Phara Michelle.

Two other people also injured in the tragedy were able to be evacuated abroad by local authorities to receive treatment. AyiboPost is, however, unable to establish their nationality.

In Providenciales, the public health system faces recurring limitations with delays in care, poor quality of care and negligent treatments.

In 2024, Prime Minister Charles Washington Misick himself recognized that a public-private partnership governing hospital management was deemed costly and did not fully serve the interests of the population.

The death of Jacius Jacquelin Rosilma comes in a context where members of the Haitian community, which represents 35% of the total population, according to 2012 statistics, are accused of links with armed groups, singled out in « gangster » type acts and regularly stigmatized.

A report from the British Parliamentary Service published in 2022 mentions the precarious living conditions — faced by the Haitian community — as one of the factors that may explain an increase in armed violence on the island in recent years.

However, the report continues, the available statistics do not allow for a clear identification of the communities specifically involved in crimes committed in the territory where Americans, Britons, Dominicans and other foreign nationals live.

Haitians living in the Turks and Caicos Islands have shared with AyiboPost their concern about this reality, which they now consider threatening to their future in the territory.

« My husband’s death is intimately linked to this refusal of care, » says Phara Michelle.

Guyvenson Laine, a man in his twenties who left Haiti in 2021 to settle in the Turks and Caicos Islands and who knew the deceased personally, said he feared the consequences of a possible incident.

« If something happens to me here, I’ll be in a fine mess too, because I’m not insured yet, » he explains, while specifying that he has not yet started the necessary procedures.

Located north of Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands are characterized by stretches of sunny beaches and large luxury hotel complexes.

Turks and Caicos Islands

In recent years, Haitian migration to this archipelago has increased significantly, driven by the search for opportunities and persistent insecurity in Haiti, to the point of worrying local authorities.

After the tragedy of July 2025, which local authorities had described as the « first major mass killing » on the island, Prime Minister Washington Misick sought the collaboration of members of the Haitian community, believing that they know how weapons are brought into the territory.

In the wake of the tragedy, local authorities decreed a six-month suspension on the issuance of new work permits and visas to new Haitian immigrants.

At the beginning of 2026, the government announced that a new immigration bill and its implementing regulation, aimed at tightening migration policies, has entered the final phase of public consultations.

In addition to migratory pressures, the Haitian community faces precarious living conditions.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only 20% of Haitians living in the Turks and Caicos Islands have permanent residency.

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Jacius Jacquelin Rosilma, originally from Port-Margot, in the North department, had settled in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2016, in search of opportunities under a more clement sky, leaving behind two children in Haiti.

The man initially worked in the construction sector after arriving in the archipelago in 2016. He then obtained a job as a security guard at the Island Hookah Lounge and Cigar, a very popular nightclub in Providenciales, the most populated island in the archipelago.

“It was thanks to this job that he provided for his family,” testifies Phara Michelle, with whom he had shared his life since they met on the island in 2018.

Michelle described her partner as a calm, reserved, and peaceful man: « He was a very easygoing person. I didn’t know of any problems he had with anyone. »

According to what he reportedly told his partner before his death, the tragedy of July 27, 2025 occurred a few minutes after an altercation with four individuals claiming to be police officers and wanting to enter the nightclub.

He initially refused them access because they did not present their badges, before allowing them to enter.

Shortly afterwards, armed men, arriving in a vehicle, reportedly opened fire on the establishment.

“It was thanks to this job that he provided for his family,” testifies Phara Michelle, with whom he had shared his life since they met on the island in 2018.

When leaving the territory to go to Haiti, the deceased’s partner told AyiboPost that the local authorities had made it clear to the family that Rosilma would not be able to return to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“I thought it was insane,” Michelle told AyiboPost.

AyiboPost has contacted the Turks and Caicos Islands Ministry of Immigration for clarification on these accounts. This article will be updated if they respond.

A work permit for the deceased, sent to AyiboPost by his family, specifies that it will expire on December 13, 2026.

Since her husband’s death, Phara Michelle’s daily life has been anything but peaceful. “He was my biggest supporter here. Losing him is also losing a part of me,” she lamented to AyiboPost.

Being in an irregular situation, the local government’s moratorium on issuing new passports to newly arrived Haitians prevents him from completing the steps already taken to regularize his status and work in the territory.

« For now, I’m staying home and I’m struggling to make ends meet, » she told AyiboPost.

AyiboPost was unable to contact the Haitian consulate in the Turks and Caicos Islands before publishing this report.

By: Junior Legrand