(Trinidad Guardian) The daughter of slain Tobago businessman and retired police sergeant Donald Parks has broken her silence mere days after the incident, calling for swift justice in his case.
In an emotional account of the incident in a Facebook post, Essie Park-Ewing, who was at home at the time of the attack on her father, said she believed he tried to protect his family during the assault.
“I believe with all my heart now after watching the footage, you remained outside and didn’t raise an alarm to protect me and my children! You knew I would have rushed outside and I would have been hurt! We had so many plans together, we spoke every day, all day! How can the God I serve and the God you serve allow a little black boy to cut you down in such a manner?”
Parks-Ewing worked closely with her father to operate their family business, Endeavour’s Children and Maternity Store, located at Carrington Street, Scarborough.
Calling for justice, she said her father was a hard worker who believed that Tobago deserved better. She also urged anyone with information to come forward
“How can I be expected to continue a legacy you groomed me for from day one?” she said.
“You, we believed Tobago deserved a better offering for children on the island and we worked tremendously hard to build our brand and we did it together. You insisted I was ready and that this was your last year to work. We were to travel on Sunday, again doing our thing and doing it together!”
She added: “To that little black boy, to your mother, to your girlfriend! Speak up! May your conscience provoke you non-stop! To that little black boy, you spilled the blood of a loved man, a man who cared for his family, a man who shared what he had with every and anyone.
I need justice!”
Around 5.38 pm on Tuesday, Parks was accosted and shot by two masked men armed with guns at his Summer Hill Trace home. The men escaped on foot through some bushes at the western side of the house with a knapsack allegedly containing an undisclosed sum of US and TT currency.
His daughter told police she heard loud explosions and on checking found her father lying in a pool of blood. The incident was allegedly caught on CCTV cameras.
The murder of Parks came as shock to many Tobagonians, who described him as an entrepreneurial stalwart who contributed significantly to the Tobago economic landscape, a quiet and humble man, a good soul and an angel on earth who did not deserve to die in such a manner.
An autopsy is scheduled to be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Up to yesterday, a Golden Lane man in his twenties was said to be in police custody and assisting officers with their investigations.
Tobago Today was reliably informed that the man, along with his attorney, visited the Scarborough Police Station on Wednesday after they received information that he was a person of interest in the matter.
Tobago Homicide Bureau is continuing investigations.