The death of missing bank clerk Shannon Banfield has been the tipping point for Brent Gerard Housian to create his petition — Bring back the death penalty to T&T on Change.org.
The discovery of Banfield’s body on Thursday struck home how vulnerable women were even in the heart of the bustling capital.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Friday, Housian, who described himself as a concerned citizen, said “Almost an hour before the news of Shannon’s death broke on social media, I was giving my 12-year-old daughter a talk about being safe, her future, striving to do her best, achieving the most she can but, at the same time, being wary of other people out there.
“When you come home to your daughter, wife or girlfriend and see what happened on the news, it really hit home.
“After the conversation with my daughter, I was mentally exhausted.
“I couldn’t eat, I went to lie down only tossing and turning and decided to do something and went on the computer and created the petition.”
The plant operator from Arima said the other catalyst for making the petition was the #lifeinleggings movement to raise awareness of sexual harassment, sexual and domestic abuse that had been circulating on social media.
Housian said with two more murders recorded since Banfield’s killing, the situation was clearly out of control.
He said the general public was angry and will stay angry for just a few days and go back to their normal routine, which cannot work any more.
Housian said the judicial system and machinery were so out of tune and archaic that criminals were beating the system with a conviction rate of only eight per cent. He believes the death penalty is an effective deterrent against capital crimes.
Housian said the other alternative was life imprisonment, but he questioned why should his hard-earned tax dollars go to the the upkeep of criminals who committed murder and had access to wifi, food and clothing while in prison and some had access to cell phones calling the shots behind bars which was alarming.
Up to yesterday evening, the petition reached 3, 783 signatures.
He said when the petition reached 5,000 signatures it will be delivered to the Government.
The last time the death penalty was carried out in T&T was in June and July of 1999 when ten men, Dole Chadee and members of his criminal gang, were hanged for the murder of one of their alleged associates and his family.
Two more hangings occurred in July 28, 1999, when Anthony Briggs and Wenceslaus James were hanged.
When those executions were carried out, Basdeo Panday was prime minister, while Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj was attorney General.