A 22-year-old Maloney man was targeted by a gunman and shot dead as he assisted his sister organise gift bags to donate as part of her birthday routine at La Horquetta on Tuesday night.
Quassie Mohammed was described by police as a menace and by relatives as hardened. His sister, Anastacia Stevenson, and one of her friends, Alana Mannette, were also shot in the attack.
According to police reports Mohammed, of Building 9, Maloney Gardens, D’Abadie, was at Stevenson’s home, along CLR James Crescent, Phase Two, La Horquetta, with Mannette, when a gunman barged in and opened fire, hitting all three.
The shooting, police said, took place around 8.30 pm. The women were closer to the doorway and were shot by the gunman as he entered before he cornered Mohammed in the living room and shot him dead.
The murder of Mohammed and that of a 44-year-old caretaker in Chaguanas yesterday took the murder toll to 342 for the year, compared to 325 for the same period last year. Officers of the Homicide Bureau Region Two are continuing investigations into Mohammed’s killing.
Stevenson, who celebrated her 35th birthday yesterday, was shot in the back while Mannette, who will celebrate her 32 birthday today, was shot in the chest. Mannette was found bleeding at an abandoned house close to her friend’s home while Stevenson was found close to the entrance of the home.
Both women were taken to the Arima Health Facility and then transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where they are warded in a serious condition.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, a relative of Mohammed, who did not want to be identified, said she was tired of speaking to the young man about the illegal activities. She said he visited his sister on Tuesday to assist her with her birthday ritual of donating gift bags to the less fortunate, usually children at orphanages.
Police said Mohammed was identified in a photograph on Facebook posing with illegal guns in the Maloney area and was said to be a “young menace.”
He was arrested last month for possession of a gun in the Port-of-Spain Division and was released from prison before that after spending eight months in jail for the same offence.
“Young men need to curb their lifestyle because this is the end result.
“Quassie didn't like to hear “the talk” about what he used to do” the relative said.
Her message to other young men involved in criminal activity is: “There is always an option. I don't accept from them youths that because they unemployed they does act like this. To me that is foolishness. Everybody can’t be a police officer or a doctor but there are things that you can do if you really want to get away from that lifestyle.”