As mourners prepared to say farewell to Point Fortin gardener Kadeem Mark, who was shot dead a week ago, one of the men believed to be responsible for his murder was gunned down by police.
According to reports, Point Fortin CID and South Western Division Task Force went to arrest two men in a marijuana field in New Village, Point Fortin, around 6.45 am. One of the suspects ran but the other, who was identified as Ato Bailey, drew a shotgun and aimed it at the officers.
Taking action, the officers shot Bailey several times in the chest and neck. He was taken to the Point Fortin Area Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. His body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre where an autopsy was expected to be done. A shotgun with six rounds of 12-gauge ammunition was recovered from the scene. Police said Bailey, of Point Ligoure, Point Fortin, had several arrest warrants in his name for rape, robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm.
Police sources said Bailey, who belonged to a drug gang, was a person of interest in Mark’s murder and several others in the Point Fortin and La Brea area. They said several other gang members are believed to be hiding out in the forest in Cap-de-Ville.
Mark, 24, of Reid Road, Point Fortin, was believed to be a drug seller and owed money and a firearm to the gang, who threatened to kill him if he did not pay up. A passerby found his body at Spring Trace, Warden Road, with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police said Mark left home around 6 pm on Monday to feed his two pitbulls which were tied in a shed in Spring Trace garden. It was believed that while standing near the shed a lone gunman approached and shot him in the head as he tried to run. He was still wearing his father’s gold chain around his neck, causing police to rule out robbery as a motive.
His grandmother Melena Rauseo told the T&T Guardian that days before his death, he told his family someone wanted him dead and he was afraid to go into the garden alone. Mark told relatives he could not get anybody to go with him to the garden so he was taking a chance to go alone. She said he had planted ochro, peppers, pumpkin and bananas on the land.