(Trinidad Express) Three men were shot dead in Laventille early yesterday and police believe one of the victims was among four armed assailants who had earlier stormed the dwelling house where the shooting took place.
The incident occurred just after 1 a.m. at Point Pleasant Park, off Block 22, Laventille and is believed to be linked to a $60,000 gold chain.
The dead men have been identified as Keon “Smurfy” Samuel, 22; his uncle Kevin Samuel, 30, both of Point Pleasant Park; while the third man is Kervin “Copper” O’Connor, 26, of Eastern Quarry, Laventille.
A .22 revolver was later discovered inside the house by crime scene investigators assigned to the Region I Homicide Bureau of Investigations. It took them more than eight hours to process the crime scene.
Several senior police officers visited the scene including head of the Homicide Bureau Snr Supt Donald Denoon and Supt Kenrick Edwards, ASPs Jayson Forde, Balram and Griffith and Insps Charles and Nesbitt.
There have been conflicting reports on who shot and killed O’Connor, who has been identified as one of the four assailants who forced their way into the home which was occupied by four adults and two children.
Michelle Samuel, who spoke with the Express near the crime scene, said she lost her brother, Kevin and son Keon at the hands of the suspects. She said she and Kevin were asleep on a couch in the living room area when four men broke into the house which was in darkness.
She said she ran into one of the bedrooms and shielded her four-year-old son while Kevin later confronted the men. A struggle ensued and during the process shots were fired and Kevin was shot. He died at the scene.
The gunmen, Samuel added, left but quickly returned after they realised O’Connor did not accompany them out of the house.
“When they missed their partner, they end up running back in calling him and same time my son got up and two of them bounce up my son and they start to wrangle and I hear a shot and I see my son fall down,” Samuel said.
She said the assailants didn’t ask for any one or anything nor did they ransack the house and the incident remained a mystery to her.
She however admitted that the night before her family received information that her son was seen wearing a large gold chain in the area.
When he was questioned by his grandmother where he got the chain from, Keon denied knowledge of the chain and went to bed, his mother said.
“I knew he did not own any chain so we wanted to know where he got it from even though we did not see him with it but heard he had on one out the road,” Samuel said. She said it’s possible that the men came for the chain but they did not ask for anything.
Meanwhile, O’Connor’s mother, Sonia James said the incident did not come as a surprise to her even though she wasn’t aware what actually transpired.
She said she had seen her son in the roadway liming with his friends which he normally did. He did not come home that night and it was no surprise to her since at times he stays at the home of his friends, James said.
She admitted that her son had a breaking and entering matter before the court which she attended with him on every occasion. He also had a gun matter before the court but it was dismissed. Asked if she believed her son may have been killed because of the company he kept, James said yes.
“I’m not covering for nobody because everybody liming together and you don’t know who is who. So if he was in anything, I don’t know and if they was behind him for that, so be it. I expected it any day. No, it didn’t come as a surprise because of the persons he limed with. When you liming with somebody, expect anything,” the mother of five, said.
Also responding to the incident were Cpl Thompson and PC Holloway of the Besson Street CID including officers of the Interagency Task Force.
The 2012 murder toll now stands at 110 according to an Express tally.
