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“Put down the guns and turn to God,” cried 80-year-old great-grand­moth­er Lucy Mitchell, af­ter her close friend was fa­tal­ly shot dur­ing her (Mitchell’s) birth­day cel­e­bra­tion in Pe­nal on Sun­day.

Quintin Mar­cano, 65, of Cameron Hill, Mar­aval, had spent the day at Mitchell’s home at Rochard Road, cook­ing and lim­ing with friends, be­fore tragedy struck. Mitchell’s birth­day was on Feb­ru­ary 14.

When Guardian Me­dia vis­it­ed yes­ter­day, Mitchell and her fam­i­ly were in tears and try­ing to come to terms with the sit­u­a­tion.