(Trinidad Guardian) A bereaved Marabella family is pleading with police not to let the murder of PH taxi driver Shahmeil Redhead go unsolved after he was gunned down during a job on Wednesday.
Redhead, 26, of Battoo Avenue, Marabella, died in a bushy track off Station 10 Road in Penal, where he and a friend went to drop off three men who had hired him that afternoon.
Reports stated that Redhead and his friend picked up the men in an area called ‘Dog Patch’ at 3.30 pm in a dark blue Nissan Sunny B-15.
They drove to a bushy area and parked along the Station 10 Road Penal, off Lowkie Trace.
The men walked into the bushy track and shortly after, Redhead got a call to come for his money.
The friend reported that after Redhead walked to the track, he heard several loud explosions. The friend looked around and saw two of the men running towards him.
Fearful, he ran from the car and hid in nearby bushes until it was dark. The suspects later drove away with Redhead’s car.
Penal police responded to a report of the incident and found Redhead lying on his back in the track. District Medical Officer Dr Nalini Maharaj examined his body and confirmed his death.
Undertakers took the body to the San Fernando General Hospital mortuary until a transfer to the Forensic Science Centre for an autopsy.
At Redhead’s home yesterday, his common-law wife was too distraught to speak of his death.
His sister Keisha called the killers’ heartless, saying they could have taken the car without taking his life.
She said Redhead worked as a private hire (PH) driver to make ends meet.
She said he was not involved in drugs, guns or robberies and did not deserve to die the way he did.
“The majority of people said it was a set-up or something just turned sour.
“According to whoever sent him on that job, things end up turning sour with them and that person. Probably they were sending a message to that person. Everybody has a whole different point of view,” Keisha said.
As relatives, friends and neighbours gathered at the house yesterday, they described Redhead as the “life of the party.” They said he never complained of any threats or attacks, so his death was puzzling.
Investigators have not established a clear motive for the murder.