(Trinidad Express) – A severed head has been found on the sidewalk at Nelson Street, east Port of Spain, near a housing development considered one of the most violent areas in the country.
The body was found nearby in an open lot. The victim was identified this afternoon as Michael Derrick Piper, 50, of Chaconia Avenue, Maloney.
Police officers blocked several roads leading to the crime scene yesterday. The head was found at around 6.15 am. Residents reported hearing gunshots this morning in the area where the body was found. The victim was clad in a blue and white jersey and blue jeans. Police said that while Piper had several drug related cases, his death may have been as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The area was the scene of a series of killings last month, which prompted an exercise involving police officers and soldiers who searched the buildings and arrested 90 persons. Most were later freed.
The killings led to the intervention of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar who held a meeting with residents at the South East Port of Spain Secondary School, at Nelson Street, where residents asked for betters jobs and housing.
