(Trinidad Newsday) Brandon Baptiste, a 32-year-old stay-at-home dad, was shot dead in a parlour on Eligon Avenue, Diego Martin, on Thursday afternoon.
Why? Because he was believed to be an informant.
Family members, are now fearing for their lives and wondering if they will be next.
Relatives said at about 1.45 pm Baptiste went to a parlour on Eligon Avenue for groceries to cook for his four children, when a gunman got out of a silver Nissan AD Wagon parked nearby and shot him.
Newsday was told Baptiste grabbed on to his killer before slumping to the ground. The gunman then shot him again several times before escaping in the silver car.
Police later found 19 spent shells at the scene.
Relatives described Baptiste as a hardworking man who would do odd jobs like maintaining yards and painting, but for the most part he would stay at home and take care of his children, 11, eight, six and three, while his wife worked.
“He would drop them to school and pick them up. He did the homework with them and took care of them while his wife was out working.” a relative said. “He was those four children’s eyeball. The baby would not even sleep without him. Even when the mother is home, that baby would go over to him and cling onto him to go to sleep.”
The four children and Baptiste’s wife were said to be in a terrible emotional state after his murder, and relatives are calling for counselling for the entire family to deal with their loss.
Relatives also said they believed his murder was a hit. They told Newsday Baptiste feared he would be targeted by gunmen because he had been accused of being an informant.
No arrests have yet been made.
Investigations continue as the murder toll rises to 198 for the year.
