A Laventille man was arrested yesterday afternoon in connection with the double murder at Pelican Extension, Trou Macaque, Laventille, in which 15-year schoolboy Joshua Andrews and taxi driver Devon Hernandez were killed and their bodies burnt while trying to escape.
The suspect was held near the scene of the double killing and was taken to the Morvant Police Station where he was questioned last night. His homes were later searched.
In a statement last night, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said the “Government strongly condemns this heinous act against innocent citizens.”
He said, “All law enforcement agencies are in direct and active engagement and together send a stern warning to the perpetrators that they will be found and made to feel the brunt of the law.”
According to police reports around 3 pm, two gunmen opened fire on a gold coloured Nissan Almera driven by Hernandez who police said was the intended target of the gunmen. The men cornered Hernandez who managed to evade them and sped off. The gunmen raced after him and opened fire again, this time causing his car to crash. While the car was stuck the gunmen riddled the car with bullets and escaped.
Hernandez, who crashed into a wall, never took his foot off the accelerator causing the car to burst into flames. He was burnt beyond recognition.
Andrews who was also burnt, was found crawling out of the back left door . Hernandez, a PH driver was transporting three children of the Morvant Laventille Secondary School when he was attacked by the men. Police said Hernandez was believed to have been somehow involved in the murder of Andrei Pereira, who was killed on Sunday night a few feet away from where his car crashed.
Pereira, 37, was shot dead near his home around 11 pm on Sunday night. Police could not give a motive for the killing.
His father Loui, spoke with the media at the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James yesterday hours before the double murder.
The senior Pereira, told the media his son, the second of nine children, told his mother and stepmother that he was going to pray more and drink less for the new year.
Speaking at the scene of the double murder yesterday, relatives of Andrews, of Critchlow Trace, Chinapoo Village, Morvant, said the teen was accustomed to walking home and was surprised he took a taxi home. The relatives at the time they were unsure it was Andrews as two other schoolmates of his were in the vehicle at the time. They escaped injuries.
In an unrelated killing, police suspect robbery may have been the motive behind the killing of Nicholas Hoyte, 28, whose decomposing body was found on Saturday night at Petersfield Road around 11.30 pm. He was last seen alive on Thursday.