T&T the Killing fields .. Nine murders in three days.
By ALEXANDER BRUZUAL Saturday, January 4 2014
Nine murders in three days.Five on January 1st 2014.
This is the number as the killing spree continued on Thursday as within 90 minutes, two friends were brutally gunned down.
First, police reported Wallace Guy, 23, of Boxhill Trace, Laventille was shot dead near his home at about 8.45 pm.
Guy was liming on the corner of the road with a group of friends, including 22-year-old Nicholas Kerr of Belmont, when they noticed a white Nissan Tida car driving past them. Less than two minutes later the vehicle returned, however, this time, the occupants of the car opened fire on the group of friends without warning.
Guy was hit multiple times about his body, while his friends — including Kerr — ducked for cover. The vehicle then sped off, leaving Guy dead on the road.
The police were notified and a party of officers from the Besson Street Police Station, the Inter Agency Task Force, and the Homicide Bureau of Investigations visited the scene.
Eventually Kerr left the area where his friend was killed, and jumped into his cousin’s white Nissan car and began his drive home.
However, at about 10 pm, upon reaching the vicinity of the St Francois Valley Road, the car Kerr was driving was shot at repeatedly by unknown assailants. He was soon found slumped against the steering wheel of the car he had been driving mere moments before.
Residents did not report seeing the incident, but the sounds of screeching tyres were said to have been heard at about the same time as the shooting.
The police were notified and a party of officers visited this scene.
Both bodies were ordered to the Forensic Science Centre, St James where autopsies were performed yesterday.
Guy’s relatives said yesterday the young man was a “cool going and kind†person, who was expected to celebrate his 24th birthday next week, and his death left them in a state of shock.
“He was such a kind soul. He never used to trouble anybody at all. Next week we were supposed to celebrate his birthday and now we have to be organising a funeral,†said a relative who did not want to be named.
“I don’t understand it at all. Because he wasn’t involved in any criminal activities or anything. I know everybody does say that when their family dead, but I know when I talked to him he used to say ‘no not me’ because he had his family to look after.â€
Guy had a young son and daughter.
“He used to hustle his PH taxi, and then be inside by 10 pm. He would go outside and lime with the boys once in a while, or check one of his lady friends. But other than that, the man was inside. Look where they kill him, at the corner near his home,†said another relative who also did not want to be identified.
Kerr’s relatives, who also spoke to reporters under the condition of anonymity, described the 22- year-old as a “kind and loving person†who took care of his young son.
“All my life I know this child and I have never heard his name call in anything bad, wrong, or criminal. You can go in the neighbourhood and ask anybody about Nicholas. Nobody has anything bad to say about him. Nothing. He was a very nice and easy going person. He used to work as a mechanic and as a plumber and he loved music,†a relative said.
“Right now we are confused over the whole incident. We don’t comprehend at all how this could have happened. Shock is an understatement. If your family was in crime, and you heard that they died, you would be in shock over the incident to know that they are dead, but you know it was coming. With Nicholas, he was a very soft spoken fella. You used to have to go up close to hear him, because that was just his personality. Humble and quiet and he would never trouble anybody, so we have no idea why anybody would want him dead at all,†another of Kerr’s relatives said.
The roll call of the dead since January 1 includes: Pastor Casimir Khan, 52, Leroy Haynes, 65, Francis Bernard, 31, Curtis Lovelace, 55, Omardath Deokienanan, 43, Sharon Bahadoor, 47, and an unidentified man.
