Three men were killed in separate incidents in South Trinidad between Saturday night and yesterday morning. They have been identified as Collin Mitchell, 52, Dixon Richards, 23 and Kirk Veronique, 25.
In the first incident, Mitchell, a father of three and grandfather of four, was killed while selling yams along Platanite Trace, Clarke Road, Penal on Saturday night.
Police said at around 6 pm Mitchell, was walking along the street a short distance from his home. He was carrying a bag of yams. He was accosted by two men and a woman who wanted the yams but did not want to pay him. The trio allegedly beat Mitchell with a shovel and garden fork, forcing him to drop the crocus bag and run.
The victim’s brother, Ashton, 50, said residents in the area told the family Mitchell ran to their homes seeking refuge.
“He was by another house inside the same street and he was telling the people there what happened,” Ashton said. “But the people say he decided to go back for the bag of yam. They tell him not to go but he still went back.
“When he reach to the house one of the men hit him with a fork on his chest and he fall down right there and died.”
Ashton said while his brother was a known hustler in the area, he never troubled anyone.
“He get caught up in drugs but he never went and rob people or harass them. He would dig a little yam or pick some coconut branches and make broom to sell. He was accustomed walking that road and selling, but you know when people see hustlers they like to take advantage of them.”
Ashton said the family is hoping for justice as there were numerous witnesses to the incident.
Investigations are continuing.
In another incident after surviving being shot in the stomach on Boxing Night last December, security officer Dixon Richards , 23, was killed early yesterday outside his Marabella home. His mother, Helen King told the T&T Guardian she was inside her home when she heard gunshots at around 1 am.
Back in December King had said Richards was shot by a stray bullet during a shootout between two residents.
“When I look out the window there was nobody there,” King said. “When I came to the front door and opened it, I see Dixon lying down on the ground and there was blood on his clothes.”
The mother of five began screaming for help She said Richards had returned to work Quality Security at the beginning of April after being shot last year. In the third incident, a California man was fatally shot while liming at a bar near his home.
At around 8pm on Saturday night, Kirk Veronique was at Xhale Lounge and Rooftop Bar on the corner of Junion Street West and Southern Main Road, California, when several shots were fired.
Veronique, 25, was rushed to the Couva Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.