(Trinidad Guardian) Kevon Dominique was shot dead while lying in bed with his girlfriend but his common-law wife Meliza Saney yesterday could find no malice in her heart for him.
Hours after his death, Saney, 23, of Dandy Lane, Siparia, broke down in tears saying he was a good father and husband who was trying to extricate himself from the arms of an “outside woman” whom he met last year.
Police said Dominique, 31, was lying in bed with his 32-year-old girlfriend inside a house at SS Erin Road, Siparia, around 10.30 pm on Thursday when a gunman wearing a red bandanna crept into the house.
The intruder went to the bed and muttered, “Is wha (war)!”
Dominique repeated, “Is wha?”
The gunman then turned to the girlfriend and said, “Don’t watch.” He then fired three shots at point blank range, killing Dominique on the spot.
But in an interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Saney said she did not trust the story.
“Why would a gunman leave a witness alive? And why tell her don’t watch? He has to know who she is,” Saney said.
Wiping away tears, Saney said she believed people close to her had a hand in Dominique’s death as they had threatened to deal with him several times.
She said her family never liked Dominique although he had been with her for nine years and had fathered her two children aged seven and four. Saney explained that she got pregnant for Dominique at just 15, following which her family threw her out.
“I used to sleep with him on two pieces of plyboard and an old mattress outside with my big pregnant belly. We went through a lot. I always loved him but my family never liked him and they never wanted us to be together. They told me they will find a woman for him,” Saney said.
Saney also denied claims her common-law husband was selling drugs, saying he had been charged only once and it was a framed police case.
Despite his infidelity, Saney said she was content that Dominique returned to her and their children every day.
“Last week, the girlfriend called me to say she will not hurt my children because she knew he loved his children. I always told him to stay away from her. There was always bacchanal and they were always fighting,” Saney alleged.
She said recently, she and Dominique started planting a piece of State land at Dandy Lane and this roused conflict.
“He would do anything to mind his children. We were not doing anything illegal. We not selling drugs, selling guns or anything. We working hard to make a life for our children and people start to get jealous of that,” she said.
She noted that they were supposed to cast a foundation for a toilet and were working hard to complete their house.
“I know what it was like to be homeless after my family put me out and I always said I wanted my own house. He was there with me all the way,” Saney added.
On the night of Dominique’s death, Saney said he received a phone call. He then told Saney he was going by his mother to pick up some food.
“Instead, he went by (name called). It look like he went by her straight away,” Saney said.
Saney said she started to get worried when he did not return home before midnight and her sister-in-law called her to say something happened.
“I knew something happened to him. I could feel it. She told me that he is gone,” Saney said.
Wailing loudly, Saney added, “What I going to tell my children when they ask for daddy? What I going to tell them! Why people can’t leave us alone to build our life?”
Saney called on the police to do a proper investigation and find out who killed the man she loved.
Police said they were pursuing several leads. A team of officers led by Actg Insp Taitt, Sgt Ramsaran, WP/Sgts Jacob and James visited the scene. Anyone with information on the murder can contact CrimeStoppers at 800-TIPS.
