(Trinidad Newsday) This year’s first murder victim, Renaldo “Naldo” Chinapoo, 38, was on his way to buy a phone card on Wednesday evening when a man shot and killed him at California in Couva.
The crime happened at about 6.30 pm on the corner of Bahadoor Street and Southern Main Road. No one else was injured.
His sister Gina Chinapoo, speaking from the family’s home, said Chinapoo was earlier liming at a bar. He left telling friends he was walking home to get money to buy the card. She said, “I do not know who he was going to call. He collected the money, but when he reached out the road, the pharmacy was closed. He saw a friend, Brent, who he asked to get the card for him.
“By the time he returned, Renaldo was shot, and people had gathered.”
Police said a gunman walked up to Chinapoo and shot him in the head and shoulders.
The killer ran past Chinapoo’s home, went through a nearby yard, jumped over a wall and fled.
Couva police took the injured Chinapoo to the Couva District Health Facility, where he died on arrival.
Relatives heard the gunshots from the house, but never expected to find Chinapoo dead. He owned a parlour at the front of the family’s home.
“When I reached…his 12-year-old son was over him crying. Blood was all over. I checked and did not get a pulse.
“Renaldo has four young children, ages 13, 12, five and three,” his sister told Newsday.
Gina said she does not know why someone wanted her brother dead.
“It is not a nice feeling to know a close relative has been killed. It is only when it reaches home, you know how it feels. No one is perfect,” she added.
An autopsy is expected to be done on Friday at the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James.
Police from Central Division and Homicide Bureau Region III are investigating.