A 20-year-old former Fatima College student was murdered while on his way home from a birthday party at River Estate, Diego Martin, yesterday.
Police said Abraham Simpson, of Gopaul Avenue, Diego Martin, died at the scene after gunmen shot at two cars, including Simpson’s Nissan Almera, in the community around 3 am. Simpson’s friend, Shadrach Joseph, remained hospitalised last night.
Police said the birthday party took place at a basketball court and was getting out of control so they shut it down. As the officers left the scene, the gunmen sprung their attack, wounding Joseph, Trevon Piango and Anthony Francis, who were in a white Kia Cerato close to Simpson’s car. Police suspect Piango and Francis, who are not from Diego Martin, may have been the gunmen’s targets.
Piango’s father and step mother Andrea “Hannah” Edwards, 37 and Raul Joseph, 42, were shot at their Haig Street, Carenage home in August last year. Edwards died while Joseph was left partially paralysed by the attack. Joseph was again attacked by a knife-wielding intruder at his home on September 19 and died in that attack.
Friends of Simpson took to social media to say he was a “cool fella” who was into sports and other outdoor activities and questioned why he was murdered. His relatives were too distraught to speak with the media at the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James, yesterday. Simpson was an only child.
In an unrelated killing on Saturday, Hakim Bartholomew, 24, was killed after visiting the home of his child’s mother. Police said the SWAT security officer was shot while seated in a car at Mt D’or, Champs Fleurs, around 10 pm and was pronounced dead at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. He lived at Sixth Avenue, Malick, Barataria.
In another murder on Friday night, 53-year-old Garth Williams was found murdered near his Blondell Avenue, Laventille home. Police said around 10 pm residents heard gunshots and later found him unresponsive. The murder toll for the year currently stands at 439.