(Trinidad Guardian) The relatives of one of two men who were murdered during a shooting incident in Couva said yesterday if the killer is not arrested by the police, they will get justice from God.
In an interview yesterday, Troy Harper, the father of Malik Harper, lamented, “I do not know who is this wicked person. It was an innocent man that got put down. I hope I get justice for that. My son just now started to live. He was 24 years of age. They took the life out of my child just so.
“Whoever it is, brother your day is coming. In time you will meet the father and He will deal with that. I am not a hunter, I am not a killer. I am leaving this in the hands of God. I will get justice through Jesus Christ.”
Harper and John “John John” Outram, 31, of Mary Street, Couva, were killed on Tuesday night after shots were fired at a group of men in the yard of a house at Aneisa Street, Point Lisas, Couva, around 6.30 pm. Police were told the gunman came through a track on the side of the house. Harper died around 7.45 pm while Outram died about an hour later, police said.
In an interview at Harper’s father’s home in Pleasantville yesterday, his sister Sankya Sennon recalled that minutes before the shooting, Harper was at home with them watching television. He then went by his friends who were across the road in a yard.
After hearing the gunshots, they ran out and saw the two men on the road. She said they could not get through with the ambulance so she and her husband took him to the Couva District Facility. He was shot twice in the chest.
Sennon said her brother was not involved in any illegal activities and believes he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He was just a casualty of the events. He was just there,” she said.
“He was the happiest person you would ever come across. He loved to enjoy himself. He would smile he would talk he would laugh,” she added.
She said her brother had planned to apply to the Prison Service at the end of the year.
“He wanted to do something positive with his life,” she lamented.
Sennon is not confident they will get justice.
“I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know how to react because it really out of hand, it definitely out of hand and something needs to be done. Too many people have access to firearms. I don’t understand how. It is very heartbreaking and now my brother had to fall victim to it,” she lamented.
Also complaining about the crime situation, Harper said, “Everything has gone haywire, it is out of control. The place is not governed properly. The crime situation is the worst thing. I am not saying that because it happened to my child but there are other people who are experiencing the same thing almost every day.”
He added that if they don’t get justice by the court and law, they will get justice from God. Describing his son as being the life of the party, he said he did not deserve to die in that manner.
He complained, “National security is at its lowest. Since I know myself, and I am 50 years old, it is at its lowest. I do not think we have anyone capable of dealing with the situation, be it the Government, the law enforcement. It is sad to say.”
Outram’s brother said the family was grieving and could not comment on his murder at the time.
