Relatives of murder victim Hassan John thought he was at the home of his uncle. However, his body was lying in cold storage at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, awaiting identification.
Speaking with reporters at the centre yesterday, his relatives said they had only been informed on Monday that John had been at the morgue since July 20.
He was killed and his body found at Sogren Trace, Laventille, on July 18. Police reports identified him as Assad John, with no address. Police said residents heard gunshots around 3 am and later found his body.
John, relatives said, was 34 and lived at Chocolate Alley, Laventille. He was a bartender whom relatives described as “a cool fella” who may have been killed as a result of mistaken identity.
“Normally he would go for two to three weeks. I was watching TV the night he got a call and like the person money finish so he ask me to make a call. I hear him tell the person he will meet them by Independence Square. When he leave he say if he don’t come back he will be by his uncle so when I didn’t see him I didn’t get worried,” John’s grandmother, Janet, said.
In an unrelated killing Teddy Nagai, the brother of Ian John, 29, who was found dead along the Paria Main Road, Blanchisseuse, on Monday said had his younger brother listened to their mother he would have been alive.
Nagai said his brother left their Little Cora Road, Cunaripo, to attend the Blanchisseuse harvest on Sunday night. He recalled on at least three occasions on Sunday John was told by his mother to stay home.
He added: “Sunday, I don’t know if it was vibes or whatever but he was playing with his niece. He never saw the child before or spoke with the child but on Sunday told the child he was speaking to her for the last time.
“He jump in the car and come back because he forget a lighter. Then he left and come back for his hat. He left and came back again because he forget his keys. When he come back the third time my mother hold onto him and told him you not going. He told our mother that everyone was at the harvest and he will be back soon.”
John’s father, Linus John, 78, said his son took after him and loved hunting. His son, he said, was not known to have any enemies and was loved by all.
He said his son contacted his brother around 3 am Monday morning and told him he was shot. According to police, John’s body was found at the side of the road around 6 am after residents reported hearing gunshots.
Nagai said his brother’s gold band and sneakers were missing and believed he was robbed and shot.