(Trinidad Guardian) Watermelon vendor Dillon Joseph, 30, was killed in a drive-by shooting at his stall near the Caroni roundabout yesterday afternoon.
Just after 1 pm, the occupants of a black Tiida opened fire on Joseph. A nearby vendor was also shot and wounded, but police believe Joseph was the target.
The other vendor, who had not been identified up to late yesterday, was being treated at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.
Joseph’s sister, Indrani, who spoke with reporters at the scene of the shooting, said he was shot five times during a deadly double murder at Freeman Road in St Augustine in January.
In another shooting incident last Saturday, gunmen opened fire on her son and Joseph at the Tunapuna Market.
Police said Joseph’s killing was a spillover from a recent spate of murders, shootings and house fires along the Old Trainline in St Augustine. His cousin, Aneesa Ramkissoon, was shot and killed at her home on Freeman Road on March 3.
Indrani said her brother sustained a broken arm in the January shooting incident.
“He have his child and wife to take care of. He tried to get welfare assistance for his family and did not get through, so he still come out to sell melons to make an honest living,” she said.
“What they want from my family? What they want? Why they killing us out?” she cried as she looked at her brother’s body near his stall.
She added: “They burn down my house and now they kill my brother. I might be killed next. This is too much to bear and we not getting any kind of justice.”
In a statement sent soon after Joseph’s murder, St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen called for the intervention of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
“According to media reports, the victim, Omardath Dillon Joseph, from the Trainline in St Augustine, was previously shot early this year in Warner Street. This follows a recent pattern in the area where Daniel Riley, Aneesa Ramkissoon and Darshan Ramnauth were all killed in close proximity to Warner Street. On each occasion, I pleaded with the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security to deal with the increasing crime levels yet her requests continue to fall upon deaf ears,” Ameen said.
She added: “These criminals are acting without fear as they seem confident that they can escape without consequence. Unless immediate actions are taken, the issue will only continue to further increase as we are currently witnessing. I am begging the Prime Minister to put the politics aside and let us work together for the harmony and safety of our citizens before more lives are lost.”