Roman Catholic priest Father Clyde Harvey yesterday admonished members of the T&T Regiment to do more for this country, as he delivered the homily at the Holy Rosary Church, Port-of-Spain, for murdered regiment officer Jerry Leacock.
Harvey said following Leacock’s murder, members of the Regiment should recommit themselves to serving the country better, otherwise the killing of their colleague would have been in vain.
“It is the responsibility of all of us to save this country. The Regiment can turn the men of this country around,” Harvey said.
The priest added that Leacock was from east Port-of-Spain, a crime hotspot, and he had engaged with the youth of the community regularly. He added that all could learn from Leacock, who was a living part of the community although he was no longer residing there but grew up there.
Leacock, Harvey said, exemplified a sense of pride in being a soldier and called on his colleagues present yesterday to mimic that and also to go a step further and engender from the country’s citizens a sense of pride in the Regiment.
During the eulogy, Leacock’s sister, Josanne Teelucksingh, recalled how he always wanted to be a soldier. She said her older brother was the “pillar of strength” in the family when their eldest sibling Joel died. Leacock, she said, was never one to worry and was always a positive person.
During her rendition of I Love the Lord, Leacock’s mother, Ingrid, allowed the pent-up anger and hurt from mourners to be released, as women in the congregation openly wailed. During the ceremony, two women fainted and had to be assisted. Leacock’s relatives, seated in the front, were overcome with grief, which Harvey reminded the congregation was a part of life, as death was a part of life.
Leacock, 42, was shot dead when four intruders invaded his home at Demerara Heights, Wallerfield, on Tuesday. The thieves then stole his Nissan Versa and made off with a box filled with costume jewelry. Leacock had ben a corporal attached to the Engineering Battalion.
A joint army/police unit had initially detained nine suspects in connection with the murder of Leacock, who was killed within hours of the slaying of PC Jason John.
Head of Communications of the T&T Police Service Ellen Lewis said last evening that one suspect remained detained in connection with Leacock’s killing while investigations were continuing into John’s murder.