(Trinidad Express) Social media personality Kevon Solomon, also known as “Kevon Ottley” and “Yank Boss”, was shot dead in the Trincity Mall car park just after 4.30 p.m. yesterday (Saturday).
Solomon was killed in his car in front of several people who were heading into or leaving the busy mall.
He had achieved a measure of popularity on TikTok for one of his short videos, titled “Miss Grippy”, which also spawned a song called “Miss Grippy with the good grip”.
Police said as Solomon drove onto the compound and was parking his Chevy Cruze in an area near Detour clothing store and Sports and Games, he was approached by a gunman.
Police said as Solomon was about to get out of the car, the gunman opened fire, killing him on the spot.
The shooter then ran off as Solomon’s car rolled forward and struck a parked Suzuki Ciaz.
Shocked shoppers contacted the police, who arrived and then cordoned off the scene with caution tape.
Dozens of people gathered behind the caution tape to look at the scene of the murder.
One woman in the Detour clothing store said: “As I hear them shots, I ran from the window because I thought they would have been able to shoot through the glass.”
Another man said he and his girlfriend had just walked out to the car park after viewing The Little Mermaid at the cineplex, when he saw the “murder scene”.
He pointed to his car that was parked near Solomon’s Chevy Cruze.
“Police said I can move, but I want to see what is going on,” he said.
There were many other onlookers who said they were shocked the killer had shot Solomon in daylight hours in the middle of a busy mall car park.
One woman and her husband expressed fear about violent crime in the area.
“I now feel very unsafe coming to the mall because from what I see here, it was not one or two bullets they used,” she said.
Her husband added: “It have little children around but seeing how this happened, it must have a story behind that.”
Another man said he came to get KFC and stumbled on the scene of Solomon’s murder.
“I am from New York. I am Trini but I live there, and this crime situation for such a small island is too much,” he said. “I mean, it is a Saturday evening and I would come to the mall with my family to go to the cinema or to sit and have some chicken, but with this I may not want to come out again.”
Another woman who works on the other side of the mall said she heard nothing until she came out.
“It is sad, though, but I want to know why this happened,” she said.
A security officer at the mall had no comment to make when the Sunday Express called last night.
Police had no motive yesterday for Solomon’s murder.
The murder toll stood at 277 up to last night, while the toll on this date last year was 251.
