(Trinidad Guardian) Eight days after her son was shot dead near his Sangre Grande home, Ann Marie Stephen says she is now being targeted by gang members in her community and is appealing to Police Commissioner Gary Griffith for immediate protection.
Stephen, 53, a mother of eight, said she had reported the incident to the Tunapuna Police Station. She came to Guardian Media on Monday seeking help.
The threat came days after her 23-year-old son Keith Clement, a coconut vendor, was killed on December 27.
Stephen said Keith was her third child to have died under tragic circumstances. Her daughter, Marion Clarke, 16, died in an accident in Tobago a few years ago and in 2017, her 34-year-old son Brendon Stephen was shot dead.
She denied Clement was involved in any illegal activity although she admitted he smoked marijuana and was frequently on the block.
“I am appealing to Griffith to investigate Keith’s death, please. I need justice for my son’s murder. I am not going to rest until I see his killers get punished. I want Griffith to clean up Damarie Hill and put away these gang members who have the place unsafe,” she said.
Stephen said her son was a victim of an ongoing war in the community.
“It’s warfare from long time. My big son, Brendon, and them used to be in war,” she said.
Stephen said she was threatened last Friday as she walked from her home by a man who “started shouting that he would kill me.”
She recalled: “I started to run but fell and injured my left hip. As he got closer, I began screaming and people came out, causing him to go in another direction. That is how I got away. Stephen said.
Asked if she is living in fear, Stephen: “I not fearful of dying because I have no cocoa in the sun. I have nothing to hide. They done killed two of my sons and is not strangers who do it. Why these fellas killing people and they outside walking free? Something is not right.”
No one has been arrested for Clement’s murder.
